The Jabberjay
by writergal24
Summary: A teenage girl attends a party celebrating the release of Mockingjay and she and her friends are sucked into the world of the Hunger Games. It sounds like fun at first, until they realize that they are in the middle of a war. Without having read Mockingjay, will the girls be able to help? Or will their presence there do more damage?
1. Chapter 1

**SPOILER ALERT AGAIN! If you have not yet read Mockingjay, do not read anymore. This story takes place in Mockingjay.**

**I know the whole we-were-sucked-into-the-book thing has been done millions of times, but I just need to let some of my excitement out after reading the whole book in one day. (To be honest I think I started one of these after I went to the Breaking Dawn party too, but this one I'm going to finish.) I hope you guys enjoy this, because I know I will. Ah, if only I could actually live in the world of the Hunger Games.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the books in the Hunger Games Trilogy. I do not own the characters, the plot, or the quotes I took from the book.**

* * *

The 23rd of August was a cold, stormy night. The sky was grey, just like the ground was in the opening scene of Mockingjay.

Not that I knew that when I took my dog out for a walk thinking _Only 3 more hours and I'll be at the party! Only 5 1/2 more hours and I will be holding the book!_

Before that week, I hadn't fully realized my excitement for the book to come out, but now I couldn't wait. My local bookstore was throwing a huge party for the release of the 3rd book in the Hunger Games Trilogy - Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. A bunch of my friends were going to be there, and after the party was over, I was planning on staying up all night to read the book. I looked at the luck I had that my school had not started yet, as my cousin's had, so I would be free to sleep in the next morning.

When I got back inside, I glanced at the clock. It wasn't 10:30 like I wished - it was still only 8 o'clock. What was I supposed to do now?

I wandered up to my room, threw on my "Team Peeta" shirt, and found my copy of Catching Fire, the second book in the series, sitting on my nightstand. I decided to reread it, thinking that it couldn't hurt to remember everything that happened so I wouldn't be reading the book and saying "Who's that?" the whole time.

Of course, I was only at chapter 6 when my mom called me and said it was time to go. I sighed, but figured that reading the first 6 chapters was better than having not read it at all.

I climbed into my car and sat there bouncing in my sit as my mom drove through town. "What time do you want me to pick you up at?" she asked.

"Um, 12:15 or 12:30. But I'll probably want to get out of there because everyone will be shouting spoilers... so 12:15."

She pulled up to the bookstore. "Ok, I'll see you at 12:15."

"Bye, Mom," I said and hopped out of the car.

I walked into the store and the bells above my head jingled. The lady at the door greeted me and asked for my name. "Lana Kavins," I told her.

She nodded and crossed my name off of the list and handed me a ticket. "Keep the one half, and put the other half in the box over there."

I nodded and smiled. "Thank you," I said.

"You're welcome," she replied. "By the way, I love your shirt."

I laughed. "Team Peeta rules."

She laughed too. "Down with the Capital."

I looked around the room, trying to find my friends Rachel and Lizzie. But I couldn't see them anywhere. I decided to start the word search without them. I reached over someone's head and said "Excuse me."

The person looked up and I discovered it was none other than Lizzie. "Hey, Lana!" she exclaimed. "We thought you weren't going to show!"

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss this for the world."

Rachel was sitting next to her. We started to greet each other, but then we noticed each other's shirts. While my shirt proudly said "Team Peeta," her's said "Team Gale." And she hated Peeta almost as much as I despised Gale. Which meant that, even though we were like best friends, we wouldn't be talking for the rest of the night.

We did the word search loudly, complaining when we couldn't find a word. My friends eventually gave up and moved onto the crossword puzzle, but I finished the word search and handed it in to recieve another ticket. "What do the tickets exactly?" I asked the owner, Franny.

She smiled. "They're for the reaping."

I laughed. "No really."

She frowned a little. "I'm serious."

Her daughter walked up behind her. "Mom," she warned and turned to me. "We have 3 prizes and we are going to pull names out of the box and see who wins. The more tickets you put in the greater chance you have of winning."

"Oh. Okay." But Franny's answer scared me and suddenly I wasn't sure I wanted to enter my name in the box.

I'm still not sure it's good that I did.

* * *

It was almost midnight. The night had been fun, full of trivia questions, rope tying, and Cinna-style dresses were drawn, but not without us thinking about how Cinna, one of our favorite characters, was probably dead. And now I was in line waiting for my own copy of the book. Rachel was in front of me and had already gotten the book. She kissed it and then stuck her tongue out at me as I anxiously waited.

When the copy was placed in my hands I finally relaxed after waiting so long for this book. I had it. It was mine.

I immediately opened up the book and started reading, standing in the corner of the bookstore while people shouted with glee as they recieved their own copies.

_I stare down at my shoes, watching as a fine layer of ash settles on the worn leather. This is where the bed I shared with my sister, Prim, stood. Over there was the kitchen table. The bricks of the chimney, which collapsed in a charred heap, provide a point of reference for the -_

But I can't concentrate in here. Not with everyone screaming and eating cake and some obnoxious boy who was yelling out, "The last sentence is Real!" So I walked over to my friends and we all agreed that we should go stand outside even though our parents wouldn't be there to pick us up for a few more minutes. We pulled open the door, me talking to Lizzie, Rachel talking to Lizzie, and Lizzie talking to both of us, trying to convince us to talk.

We were so busy talking about how excited we were, that it took me over 10 steps to realize that the ground was covered in a layer of ashes.

**Hope you guys enjoyed!**

**~writergal24**


	2. Chapter 2: Lanavia, Roselle, and Lizzie

**Hey guys! I got chapter 2 up sooner than I expected actually, although I know it's been a while since I posted chapter 1. I'm actively updating 4 stories, so I don't have time to update every one everyday, especially now that school started again. But I'm kind of enjoying this story, so I'll get the next chapter up soon.**

**Obviously I don't own Mockingjay or any of the Hunger Games characters. Although I wish I had Peeta. (Love him!) **

**Oh, and if you guys have any ideas for future chapters, I'd be glad to hear them. I'm probably going to stick to the Mockingjay plot for the beginning, but maybe change it up a bit at the end. Don't really know yet.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

**WARNING: remember that this is rated T.**

"Guys!" I exclaimed, pointing at the ground. We looked around us.

The whole world was in ashes. There were buildings burnt to the ground and dead people on the ground. Lizzie shrieked and pointed at one.

"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh," she cried. "Where are we?"

Rachel made a face. "I don't know, but I have a feeling we're not in the United States anymore."

"Ha, very funny, Rachel," I said sarcastically.

All at once, we turned around to go back into the shop but… it wasn't there.

"Um… what just happened?" Rachel asked.

Lizzie started crying.

Suddenly there was an hand wrapped around my arm, holding me so tightly that I could barely move. Lizzie screamed. Rachel yelled, "Get off me!" I turned around to face my attacker.

The boy had dark hair and dark skin. He totally wasn't my type of guy. He was wearing some kind of body-suit. He was holding my arm, and Rachel's arm. Meanwhile, this girl who looked very similar to him was holding Lizzie.

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" the girl demanded. I noticed that she had grey eyes.

"Oh my God! You're Katniss!" I blurted out.

"Yes," she agreed.

Rachel examined the boy that was holding her. "Then you must be Gale!" she cried happily. Rachel looked like she was about to faint into Gale's arms. I looked at the boy disgustedly and wondered where Peeta was. Then I remembered: the Capitol had kidnapped him. My poor Peeta!

Gale looked shocked. People would know Katniss, I remembered, but they probably wouldn't know Gale. "How do you know my name?" he asked Rachel, holding her tighter.

"We were big fans of Katniss in the games," I explained quickly. "We remember seeing you when they did her report."

Gale still didn't look convinced, but he seemed to accept our answer. "What district are you from?"

"District 5," I said quickly, not really sure what District 5's forte was.

Gale nodded slowly. "What are your names?" he asked.

"Lizzie," Lizzie replied.

"Lizzie," Katniss repeated. "What kind of name is that?"

_What kind of name is Katniss? _I wanted to retort, but I held my tongue.

"And yours?" Gale asked, nudging me and Rachel.

"I'm… Lanavia," I replied, remembering names like Octavia and Fluvia, and hoping that this would pass the Panem test.

Gale nodded and looked at Rachel.

"Roselle," she replied. I laughed in my head.

Gale nodded again. Plant names were fairly popular in Panem. Like Katniss. I still wasn't really sure where Peeta came from… maybe pita bread. "Where are you guys headed?" he asked.

"District 13," I replied confidently. Katniss smirked. "Where are we now?"

Katniss' smile vanished. "It used to be District 12," she said brokenly.

Gale finally dropped me and Rachel's arms, although Rachel looked disappointed, and wrapped his arm around Katniss. "I'm sorry," he muttered.

Rachel looked like she was about to murder Katniss.

"So how do we get to District 13?" I asked.

"Our hovercraft is waiting to take us back," Gale replied. "I guess we should go now."

I nodded, although inside I was freaking out. A hovercraft? That hadn't even been invented yet, had it? This was going to be awesome.

Suddenly there was a small noise from our left. "Buttercup!" Katniss exclaimed.

When Katniss said Buttercup was ugly, she meant it. This was the worst looking cat I had ever seen. It was fat, yet frail looking, and I just wanted to tell it to scram.

But Katniss scooped up her sister's cat and placed her in her bag. "Don't tell anyone I have the cat. They might not let me bring it."

"As long as you don't let anyone search through our bags," Lizzie said.

I suppose that was kind of smart of her to say, considering that our bags had books in them that contained Katniss' life story, but they started getting suspicious.

"What's in your bag?" Gale asked.

Luckily, Rachel saved the day. "Photos of naked guys," she said.

Gale's eyes widened and he blushed at "Roselle's" answer. Katniss just laughed. "Come on, let's go," she insisted. And she started talking into her headset-thing.

Suddenly there was this huge thing descending over us. I don't even know how to describe it. It was white and chic, yet it was huge and powerful. It was a hovercraft, and I wasn't supposed to see one considering that I lived in the 21st century.

The awe was ruined a bit when a rope ladder descended from the hovercraft. "We're supposed to climb that?" Lizzie asked, making a face.

Gale and Katniss laughed and started climbing. I followed behind, trying to make it look like I climbed rope ladders everyday – which I didn't – with Rachel following closely behind and Lizzie trailing and groaning below me.

And then I, just a regular old girl, climbed into Katniss Everdeen's hovercraft – and her world.

**Did you like it? Then tell me about it - even if you didn't. There's this button, you see, and it's like right under this. If you press it, you can tell me whatever you are thinking about right now. Even if it's about chocolate cake. I don't care. **

**(I promise this is the only time in this story that I will beg for reviews. I promise on Peeta's life.)**

**~writergal24**


	3. Chapter 3: Mirrors are Good

**Yay! Next chapter! Hope you guys are as excited as I am. Don't really remember when I last updated as I am now juggling 4 active stories (new Harry Potter story up tonight - check it out) but I hope it was fairly recently?**

**Anyway i don't own Hunger Games! Hope you enjoy!**

We settled into the hovercraft, amazed at the technology we were seeing. As promised, we didn't mention Buttercup and nobody looked through our bags. Some security guys looked a little suspiciously at us, but Gale assured them that we had been on our way to District Thirteen in the first place, which actually wasn't exactly true…

"There's a restroom down the hallway if you girls want to use it," Gale mentioned as he plopped into a chair and turned to some guy to tell him about how bad District 12 had been. Katniss sat down next to him, but didn't participate in the conversation.

We nodded gratefully and hurried down the hall. We all went to the bathroom, than stood facing the mirror and fixed our hair, making sure that we didn't look like we had just realm-traveled or whatever you want to call it.

I looked at our reflections – just 3 regular girls, dreaming about the world of the Hunger Games like everyone else, and suddenly we were there. We were talking to Katniss and dodging Gale's questions.

"Holy crap!" I suddenly exclaimed.

Rachel and Lizzie jumped. "What?" they demanded.

"Look at my shirt!"

I was wearing a Team Peeta shirt, but I was no longer in a world where Peeta was a fantasy. I was in a world where Peeta was a very real teenage boy and was currently being tortured.

"Oh my God!" Rachel exclaimed. "And my shirt too! God, we are lucky that they didn't notice."

Lizzie nodded appreciatively.

I looked down at my shirt frantically, wondering how I could hide it. "I'm wearing a tank top, so I'll just take this off."

"Same," Rachel said and we both pulled off our shirts.

When we went back out, Katniss looked at us suspiciously. "Did you guys change?" she asked.

"Yeah, it was kind of hot in here, so we took our extra shirts off," I told her. Actually, I was a little cold, but it was the only excuse I could come up with.

She nodded anyway. "I know, I'd much rather be out in the cold winter air than in this stuffy place," she murmured.

"But doesn't it…" Lizzie started. Then she thought about it again. "'Never mind."

Katniss chose to just ignore the comment, probably because she was still freaked out about Lizzie's name. I mean, in a world where you have Katniss and Glimmer, Lizzie just doesn't fit in.

"So we are going back to District 13, right?" I asked Katniss.

"Yes," she told me. "Whoo-hoo!"

"You don't like it there," I stated.

"Nope," she told me and bit her lip.

"Why not?" Rachel asked.

"Because… I don't know," Katniss said, although I had a feeling that she was going to say something else. If only I had a chance to read Mockingjay, I would probably know exactly what she was thinking. But taking the book out with the main character sitting right next to me was just too risky. I needed to wait until I was alone.

"So what do we do there exactly?" I asked.

"Whatever your schedule says," Katniss laughed bitterly.

"What does that mean?" Lizzie asked.

Katniss rolled her eyes and pushed her sleeve up. Purple ink is stained on her arm, listing her activities for the day, starting with _7:00 – Breakfast_ and ending with_ 22:00 – Bathing_. Her schedule seems to have a lot of time allotted for "Command," whatever that means.

"That's horrible," Lizzie gasped.

Katniss laughs. "It's not like it hurts or anything. It's just annoying."

The four of us girls were pretty much silent for the rest of the journey, except for the occasional random question. Then Katniss announced, "We're here."

I didn't even bother to ask how she knew, because I couldn't tell any difference at all between when we were moving and when we were stopped. It felt the same to me.

I leaned over and glanced out the window and found that we hadn't really stopped, just dramatically slowed down. I saw a small, run-down town, pretty similar to District 12, except that it wasn't burnt down, just abandoned. "This is District Thirteen?" This was the center of the rebellion? This is where the people who planned Katniss' escape came from?

"Well, yes," Katniss said. "But not exactly."

I exchanged a confused look with Lizzie and Rachel, but they seemed to be just as lost as I was.

Gale continued, "District Thirteen is underground."

**Haha love the last line :)**

**~writergal24**


	4. Chapter 4: The President Doesn't Like Me

**After frequent prodding, I was convinced to work super extra hard to get the next chapter up... now! The day after the last, right?**

**So I don't own Hunger Games or Peeta or Gale (even though I wouldn't want to own Gale)**

**This chapter is dedicated to _junbug24_ who reminded me that, yes, homework is important, but updating quickly is also. So thanks for talking to me on a Monday night when I was bored out of my mind. I got 2 chapters up tonight - just on different stories :)**

**So I hope you guys enjoy.**

Lizzie let out a little squeal. Everyone looked at her. "Seriously?" she asked excitedly. "That is so cool!"

Gale looked at us suspiciously. "How were you guys going to get there if you didn't know that?" he asked me.

"We left a few months ago when information about District 13 was scarce in the other districts. We barely even knew that there was a 13 still, let alone that it was underground," I lied.

The truth was that we didn't know it because Katniss didn't know it because Suzanne Collins is a meanie for not telling us that in the first two books.

But Gale nodded and I wondered exactly how much of a low profile 13 was keeping in the other districts nowadays. Did everyone know? Did the Capitol know?

But then I remembered: by capturing Katniss, they had given away their existence. For Katniss. For some girl who created more trouble than solutions. Why couldn't they have rescued Peeta?

Speaking of that, where was Peeta?

Suddenly I just wanted to get into District 13 and get a room or whatever and sit and read the book because I needed to know where my Peeta was at this very moment. Maybe… maybe I could even save him.

And then I caught sight of District 13.

I hate to say that Peeta vanished from my mind, but it's true. I was so awestruck…

I just couldn't believe that this place was underground.

There were TV monitors built into the rock walls with detailed maps of the place, and elevators that seemed to go up, down, and sideways? There were structures in shapes I wouldn't have thought possible. And I barely even saw half of it as we zoomed through a tunnel. Suddenly we stopped and Katniss and Gale rose to get out, so we followed unsteadily. They, however, didn't seem fazed by it, maybe because they had seen it, and maybe because it was normal for this century.

And the room they brought us to? Wow. That's all I can say about it.

It was square, and the walls and ceiling and floor were all blue glass. The table that rose out of the floor was the same. Bright lights seemed to come from nowhere, like the room itself was glowing. Around the table sat 8 or so people, all sitting up perfectly straight, and all wearing the same suits as Katniss and Gale wore.

Still, it was easy to tell which of them came from the Capitol. They were the ones with the wild makeup and hair, and tattoos all over their bodies. They were the ones with noses that weren't theirs and Botoxed-cheeks.

It was also easy to tell which the leader was. I couldn't tell you what her name was, but I'm sure the book in my bag could have. But I knew who she was. She was the lady sitting at the head of the table with straighter-than-sticks gray hair and wrinkles lining her eyes.

She looked over us, dislike in her eyes, but her face showing no emotions. "Gale?" she asked calmly.

"We found these three wondering around District 12. There were on their way here," he replied.

"Names?" she continued.

"Roselle, Lizzie, and Lanavia," he introduced us. "Girls, this is President Coin," he muttered to us.

All three of us smile politely on cue. "It's so nice to meet you, President," I told her genuinely. I just needed to figure out which method of torture would be enough repayment for not rescuing my Peeta.

"Have their bags been searched?" the President asked.

I shot a look at Gale. He smiled at her. "I personally searched their bags," he lied.

The President nodded and looked at him curtly. "And how do you know that they are not lying? Do you trust them with your life?"

When President Coin says "with your life" you can tell that it's not a reference or an over exaggeration. She's dead serious. Which is why Rachel is suddenly biting her tongue and Katniss leaps forward and grabs his arm.

He turns to face her and they have a silent conversation. "Katnip…" he says softly after a few seconds and I wonder if Rachel's already got to him.

She sighs and turns to us, giving us a "don't make me regret this, or you won't live to see your first schedule" look.

And I'm glad that we aren't from the Capitol. I don't want to be Buttercup's breakfast.

Although, we aren't really telling the truth.

So then, could we get… caught?

**Did you... oh, yeah, I'm not allowed to beg :(**

**~writergal24**


	5. Chapter 5: My Poor Peeta

**Hey guys! :) This chapter takes direct quotes from the book, all of which I don't own. Because if I did, I wouldn't have put my Peeta through so much torture. Anyway, I needed to get some Peeta in there, and not just in the book, but Lana actually seeing him. She needed proof that he was alive. So, uh, I hope you enjoy this chapter! CHAPTER 5!**

Later that night, when we had been assigned our rooms, we all sat on our beds and read the book separately. Now that we were in the book, our anxiousness could not have been any stronger. I curled my feet up under me and sat there, reading intently.

_Almost nothing remains of District 12._

Well, duh. It was burned to the ground.

The rest of the chapter pretty much described the scene we had witnessed. The gray, the bodies, the remains of the houses. Katniss finding Buttercup.

But there were no girls wandering around randomly. Gale never comes down.

Did we just mess up the book?

But no. We haven't done anything important to alter it, have we? We just showed up. We can sit back and watch, can't we.

But the time I started Chapter 2, I was pretty reassured that us being there was ok. Gale and Katniss discussed how bad 12 had been in the beginning, and then Katniss describes 13 pretty accurately.

Then at 18:30, they are called to Command, the place we were taken when we arrived in 13. I'm wondering why, but I'm not too interested until I see Peeta's name.

_So it's almost entertaining to see Caesar Flickerman, the eternal host of the Hunger Games, with his sparkly suit, preparing to give an interview. Until the camera pulls back and I see that his guest is Peeta._

_A sound escapes me._

Yeah, Katniss. A sound escapes me too. My Peeta is alive and…

_His skin is glowing, flawless, in that full-body-polish way. His manner's composed, serious._

My Peeta, always the gentleman…

_Caesar leans in to him a little. "I think it was clear to all of us what your plan was. To sacrifice yourself in the arena so that Katniss Everdeen and you child could survive."_

"_That was it. Clear and simple."_

Peeta, how could you even think of sacrificing yourself?

"_But other people had plans as well."_

There's a long stretch of dialogue in which Peeta describes the arena, but I already know that, so I try to skip it to find out what the point is.

"_Too busy playing allies with the others. I should have never let them separate us!" Peeta bursts out. "That's when I lost her."_

"_When you stayed at the lightning tree, and she and Johanna Mason took the coil of wire down to the water," Caesar clarifies._

"_I didn't want to!" Peeta flushes in agitation. "But I couldn't argue with Beetee…"_

More pointless dialogue. Peeta, just tell me that you are ok. I need to know.

"_She didn't know what she was doing. None of us could follow Beetee's plan. You can see her trying to figure out what to do with the wire," Peeta snaps back._

They talk about Haymitch, and how Peeta regrets trusting him, which makes me sad. Yeah, Haymitch lied to them, but I've always liked Haymitch in some odd way.

Then Caesar brings up the war.

"_Oh, I'm not too upset to answer that." Peeta takes a deep breath and then looks straight into the camera. "I want everyone watching – whether you're on the Capitol or the rebel side – to stop for a moment and think what this war could mean. For human beings. We almost went extinct fighting one another before. Now our numbers are even fewer. Our conditions are more tenuous. Is this really what we want to do? Kill ourselves off completely? In the hopes that – what? Some decent species will inherit the smoking of the earth?"_

He has me confused until he says,

"_I'm calling for a cease-fire."_

All I can think of is how miserable Peeta must be to call a cease-fire. I feel so bad for him.

And then I realize. He actually exists here. The conversation is going to happen. Today. At 18:30.

"What time is it?" I ask suddenly.

Lizzie glances up from the book, and I can tell that she hasn't gotten as far as I have. "About… 18:20. God, I hate these times."

"We have to go!" I exclaimed.

Rachel gave me a puzzling look. "Why? Oh, is it dinner time?" she asked, licking her lips.

I shook my head. "It's much more important than that. We have to find Gale and Katniss – now."

* * *

Well, we found them. It took a few minutes, but it didn't look like they'd gotten the message yet, as they were walking towards the dining hall. "Hey, guys!" I exclaimed.

They turned around. "Oh, hi, Lanavia," Gale greeted. "Roselle. Lizzie."

They mumbled hellos, still confused as to why we were there.

"So are you going to dinner?" I asked.

Katniss started to nod when Gale's watch-thing – a communicuff, I believe – went off. He looked to Katniss. "They need us in Command."

"Oh, that sounds like fun," Rachel said.

They both shrugged.

"Do you mind if we go then?" Rachel asked.

Thank you, Roselle.

Gale and Katniss exchanged a glance. "I'm sure that wouldn't hurt," Katniss said.

Gale sighed as if to say "It was your idea, remember."

We walked quickly up to the Command room. All of the people there were huddled around the large TV, watching it intently. We all slowly approached the TV to see what was on.

And there he was.

My Peeta.

I had always wondered what he looked like. I knew the whole blond hair thing, but a girl needs more than that.

But he was gorgeous. I had always known that he would be, but my dreams didn't live up to the real thing. He was my boy with the bread, with a broad nose and dimples.

But even though he was gorgeous and healthy-looking, I could tell that he wasn't happy. The look in his eyes, the way he frowned. Something was wrong.

He said the exact same thing that I had just read. From his plan, to his call for a cease-fire.

The second the interview ended the room was silent. Then all of the leaders started accusing my boy of being a traitor and Katniss ran away. They yelled at her, and Gale punched a guy in the face before running after her. It all happened so fast that Katniss was barely out the door before they noticed us.

"What are you doing here?" President Coin asked.

"Katniss and Gale invited us," I explained.

The President frowned and shook her head, her grey hair flying back and forth. "You should not have been here. You will leave now, and you will tell no one of what you saw here."

We all nodded obediently and left the room.

"My poor Peeta," I whispered as we walked through the halls.

"My strong Gale," Rachel retorted.

**Haha hope you enjoyed. And tell me what you think: will their being there affect the book?**

**~writergal24**


	6. Chapter 6: Mockingjay

**Ok, next chapter! I've kind of forgotten how to write an a/n at the begining of the story when I have nothing to say because I've written so many so...**

**Um... well, if you guys are Twilight fans - or not Twilight fans who want to see if Twilight is any better the way that I wrote it - go check out my story My Girl which is now... (drumroll) COMPLETE! Yeah!**

**Anyway... I don't own the Hunger Games, because if I did, I would have been able to come up with a fancier way to say that I didn't. (And if I couldn't come up with a fancier way, I could just hire someone to write it for me). But I do take passages from it, as indicated by the italicized writing.**

**Review please! Hope you enjoy!**

When I got back to the room, I read furiously, trying to figure out what was going to happen next. I wanted, _needed_, to know what was going to happen before it happened. And my friends seemed to feel the same way. We all sat there reading.

Nothing really important was happening – I just got a look at what Katniss was off doing right now. Talking to Gale, talking to Prim. Nothing too interesting.

EXCEPT THAT SHE WAS GOING TO AGREE TO BE THE MOCKINGJAY! THAT WAS HUGE!

She told Gale, she told Prim, and tomorrow morning, she was going to tell President Coin. Oh, how I wished that I could be there. But I decided that reading was going to have to be enough.

When she wakes up, she is relieved to find that she is scheduled to go right to Command after breakfast. Katniss explains the food rules, and I grimace when I realize that I will have to eat like that too.

Then she goes to command and says it.

"_I'll be your Mockingjay… But I have some conditions."_

The first issue was about Buttercup, and considering that I hate Buttercup, I don't pay much attention to it.

"_I want to hunt. With Gale. In the woods," I say._

Hey, maybe they'll let me go along! Not.

"_Gale. I'll need him with me to do this."_

God, what a waste of a condition, especially when Coin gets mad at this. But really? Gale? Why not ask for them to go get Peeta?

And then Katniss says something for the first time in this book that makes me actually like her. Kind of.

"_When the war is over, if we've won, Peeta will be pardoned."_

That made my heart so happy that I didn't really pay attention to the rest of the people that she wants to be pardoned.

And then the lights went out.

"What the heck?" Rachel screamed.

"I think that means it's time to go to bed," Lizzie guessed.

"I didn't even get to find out how the President responds to her being the Mockingjay," I moaned quietly.

"What?" they both exclaimed.

"Oops," I giggled.

Rachel sighed. "You should come with a sign on your mouth that says 'spoiler alert.'"

* * *

When we woke up in the morning, to a very obnoxious alarm clock, we giggled and ran over to get our arms stamped.

"I want to go first!" Lizzie shrieked.

"No, me!" Rachel protested.

"Guys, guys, there's only one way to settle this," I told them. They both looked at me expectantly. "I get to go first!" I thrust my arm out and, luckily, they were so shocked that they didn't even react in time.

"Name?" the machine asked politely.

"Lanavia Kavins," I responded clearly.

It swept over my arm and suddenly my entire schedule was there. I yelped. "Yes."

I turned away from it to read my purple schedule.

_7:00 – Breakfast_

_7:30 – Command_

Huh. Why does that look familiar?

Oh my God, I have the same schedule as Katniss!

"What did you guys get?" I asked quickly, turning around to see my friends staring at their arms in glee.

"Breakfast and then Command," Rachel told me.

"Same," Lizzie added.

"Me too," I told them. "And that's what Katniss had too."

"We're going to be with Katniss?" Lizzie questioned excitedly.

Rachel gasped. "Do you think Gale will be there?"

I rolled my eyes. "Unfortunately, I think so," I told her.

Rachel sighed in content, while Lizzie sighed in resignation. "I guess we should get dressed," Lizzie said.

We both nodded eagerly and we pulled on the same ugly uniforms that everyone else had been wearing the day before.

Then we set off to the cafeteria, chatting animatedly about how excited we were. We were careful to avoid any topics that would give away that we knew more than we should, but we didn't hide our eagerness.

We walked into the cafeteria and got on line. We scanned our arms under and food appeared for us within seconds – a bowl of hot grain, some milk, and some fruit.

"Hey," I complained as we walked around looking for a table. "You guys got more than me!"

"You're shorter than us," Rachel said as an explanation and quickened her pace. "Hey, Gale!" Gale turned around from the table he was sitting at. "Katniss!" Rachel added as an afterthought.

"Oh, hey girls," Gale greeted and Katniss nodded.

"Can we sit here?" Rachel asked, sounding totally innocent, but I knew that her thoughts were the opposite.

They both shrugged.

We sat there in silence for a few moments, because that seemed to be what Katniss and Gale did most of the time. Finally Gale broke the ice. "What did you guys have scheduled for today?"

"Well… after this we have Command," I told him.

Katniss' head snapped up. "Really? Most people don't get called to Command," she informed us.

We shrugged innocently.

"I wonder what's up…" she thought aloud. Then she stopped talking again.

I know I had only known Katniss one day, but I had to say, she didn't seem like the friendliest of people. I wondered if that was because of the games, or if she had always been this way. I tried to think of her personality in the book, but aside from her being a little stubborn, outgoing, and overprotective, I couldn't really remember. I guess I was too busy focusing on Peeta to realize that maybe Katniss wasn't really nice.

"So where are you guys going?" I asked Gale.

"Command too," he replied.

I nodded as though I was surprised. "Excited?"

They exchanged looks. "Well… they are going to be there," Katniss muttered. "Should I just tell them?"

Gale shrugged. "Why not?"

"Well, I was actually thinking that I should hold Coin to my conditions by making her say them in public…"

"That's a great idea."

"So should I tell anyone yet?"

Gale's eyes raked over us. "I'm sure it's fine."

"What is it?" Lizzie asked, not even realizing that that was rude.

"I'm going to agree to be their Mockingjay today. I'm going to lead the revolution," she announced to us.

We all gaped. "Seriously?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Well, congratulations."

Katniss laughed bitterly. "Yeah, we should throw a party."

"If you don't want to do it, then why are you?" Rachel questioned.

"Because this is about more than just me. It's about my family, my friends, the whole world! And I need to do this," Katniss explained.

I nodded. "I understand," I told her.

She half-smiled at me. "Thanks."

It was silent for another minute. "Should we go now then?" Gale asked.

We all nodded in approval.

We walked silently through the halls, quickly, bursting with news, and wondering why exactly we were being called there in the first place.

We walked into the room and took our sits, all eyes on the 5 of us.

"There's something I need to say," Katniss announced after a few tense moments.

The President held one finger up. "Before you say anything, there is something that we have to say to you," she told her sternly.

Suddenly I realized that everyone in the room was looking at us accusingly, in a way that my band teacher would call "the evil eye."

"What's wrong?" Gale asked.

"You are all in trouble."

Um… that wasn't supposed to happen.

**Do you hate my story? Do you think I should do something differently?**

**THEN TELL ME! I LOVE constructive criticism (and constructive compliments ;) )**

**~writergal24**


	7. Chapter 7: Suspicion

**Hey guys. Chapter 7! So far this month, I've had almost 1000 hits on Jabberjay, which I find AMAZING considering it's a relatively new story. But I would still really appreciate some more reviews.**

**And here's a topic for you to review about: do you think the Katniss i'm portaying is out of character? I feel like there are some strong characters in Hunger Games, but I haven't really gotten a grasp on Katniss'. I feel like the only things I know about her is that she's a little stubborn and has "the charms of a dead slug." I've kind of interpreted comments like that, but I'm not sure if it goes with Katniss' voice. So what do you guys think? Review and tell me. ESPECIALLY if you agree with me and think that I need to think more about Katniss' character.**

**So I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter. There are no direct quotes from the books, yet I still don't own any of Suzanne Collins' brilliant ideas, or characters, or Peeta, who I hope to be getting to soon :) Oh, and I apologize that this chapter is a little bit shorter than the usual.**

**Enjoy!**

"Do you know who these people are?" the President asked Katniss, gesturing towards me and my friends. We were standing there, not understanding what she was saying, in our ugly new suits, with our hair tied back, and our faces clear of makeup, because apparently we weren't important enough for them to put some in our room. We probably looked like we had just woken up, because we kind of just had. It was still morning. But our whole world, or Katniss' whole world, was crashing down.

"They're girls from District 5 that were on their way here and we gave them a ride. They seem very nice," Katniss replied confidently her grey eyes staring into Coins's grey, but different, ones.

"That's what they told you," Coin responded, looking at me, and I felt my cheeks turn red. "So you believed them and you allowed them to come and listen to our conversations. But we have reason to suspect that they are actually from the Capitol and that they are spies."

I paled.

"_Spies_?" Lizzie repeated weakly.

Katniss looked us over warily, trying to decide whether maybe her judgment had been wrong. _No Katniss, _I wanted to plead. _We didn't do anything wrong. We aren't spies._ Maybe Katniss wasn't my favorite characters in the books – that spot was reserved for Peeta – but I wanted her to like me for some reason. Maybe because I respected her for all of the things she had done in the games. I just really wanted her to trust me.

"Please, President," Plutarch protested. "They're just a bunch of teenage girls."

Coin frowned. "Which is exactly why we wouldn't suspect them of being spies. Which is exactly why the Capitol sent them."

"But…"Rachel started to protest before she was cut off.

"No. We can't trust you unless you have proof," Coin said firmly.

"President Coin, I'm sure they have a perfectly good explanation," Gale said and I saw Rachel's eyes glow because her fantasy boyfriend was attempting to defend her.

"If you defend her, you will also be suspected of treason," President Coin announced.

Rachel's eyes flashed.

"Please, President, I understand your suspicions about us," I said and my voice caught. I cleared my throat. "Punish us, but excuse Katniss and Gale. Even if we were involved in something like that, which we aren't, it wouldn't have been Katniss and Gale's fault. Plus, Katniss had something very important that she wanted to ask you today."

Katniss' eyes widened and she looked at me helplessly.

"Oh, yes?" the President asked, turning her ancient eyes to Katniss.

"Um, I was going to agree to be the Mockingjay?" she said softly.

The President didn't look like she was very surprised. In fact, she looked as though she had been expecting this. "I see…"

"I had conditions," Katniss continued after a reassuring look from Gale. "I mean, if I was to do it, there are things that need to be done for me."

"And what would those be?" Plutarch asked.

"Um, we would get to keep our cat," she mumbled.

A couple of the Capitol-born people chuckled.

"And, uh… Gale would have to be able to stay with me when I'm doing my Mockingjay duties. And we would get to hunt. In the woods. By ourselves." Katniss took a deep breath. "Hunting helps me relax, so I'd be in a much better mood to be your Mockingjay if you let me hunt."

A couple people nodded thoughtfully.

"Is that all?" President Coin asked.

"No," she whispered. Then she coughed and said, louder, "Peeta would be excused. If we win, you would let him go. No punishment whatsoever. Same with Johanna and Enobaria."

President Coin frowned and stared at the table for a minute. "Seeing as you allowed spies to come into District 13, I believe that you being the Mockingjay would be more of a repayment than a favor to us now," she mused.

Oh no. Because of us, Coin wasn't going to allow her conditions!

"But, I… fine. I'll lessen my conditions," Katniss said, trying to keep her voice level.

"To what?" Plutarch questioned.

Katniss looked at Gale with pleading eyes for a second and suddenly I knew what she was going to do. So did Gale, although he didn't look too happy.

But I was happy. I was ready to jump to the moon.

"My only condition is… Peeta."

**I believe I got a review last chapter that protested the fact that Peeta wasn't going to be excused, so I decided to focus on that. How do you think President Coin will respond? Predictions, ideas, feedback, tell me EVERYTHING. (And no, this isn't begging :) )**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**~writergal24**


	8. Chapter 8: The Deal

**Hey! Sorry guys, this is the shortest chapter so far, I think. But it needs to happen. Instead of giving you long chapters of fluff, I'm giving you short chapters with lots of important things happening in them. **

**I'm sure you all realize that the reason I haven't been updating as much in a while, but you know that's only because of school. I'm trying. And this month I'll try even harder because I won't be updating at all in November (I'll get into that later).**

**I don't own Mockingjay because if I did, I'd probably be so sick of the book by now that I wouldn't even look at it :) I'd be off celebrating and thinking of what I was writing next.**

**But don't worry. Good stuff should be coming up soon :)**

**Hope you guys enjoy!**

President Coin closed her eyes. "I don't know if that can happen."

My heart sunk. She wouldn't rescue my Peeta? I think Katniss felt the same way.

Actually, I'm sure Katniss felt the same way.

Katniss seemed to feel my disappointment. Times a thousand.

She exploded. The girl on fire was going up in flames.

"What do you mean you can't do that? He doesn't know what he's doing! The Capitol is probably torturing him!" she yelled.

Coin frowned delicately. "If you had been in the situation, would you have done the same thing?" she asked.

Wow. She knew Katniss' weak spot. Her face crumpled.

She was Katniss. The Mockingjay. The fearless. Of course she wouldn't have surrendered. She would have yelled, just as she was doing now.

"You don't know what they are doing to him," she hissed lowly.

"Do you?" President asked.

I stood there, feeling awkward, hoping that Katniss could win for my Peeta, but knowing that I couldn't comment because that would make me look even more suspicious.

"I won't be your Mockingjay if you don't do this for me," Katniss threatened.

"We could always find another one," President Coin shot back.

But she was lying. They could never find another Mockingjay. Katniss was the girl on fire. She was the symbol of this rebellion. And no matter how hard they tried, they could never replace her.

"How about we make a deal?" Katniss offered.

President Coin's eyebrows shot up. She looked interested, but she didn't say anything.

Katniss continued. "You have until the end of the week to find another Mockingjay. A Mockingjay who could do the job just as well as I could. If you do that, then I will be your Mockingjay. If you don't, you will rescue Peeta, pardon him, and I will be the Mockingjay."

"Interesting deal… but the outcomes seem the same to me," President Coin observed.

"One way I get Peeta, the other I don't. You know who wins in which situation."

"I do, I do," she mused.

"What's the point of finding another Mockingjay if you will replace them anyway?" Plutarch objected.

"It's a test," President Coin announced. "She wants to see how strong we are."

Katniss didn't say anything.

"Well, then I don't have anything against it. I say we go for it," Plutarch said.

The rest of the table agreed. At least, the Capitol people did, with loud choruses and weird phrases. The District 13 people just sat there and waited for President Coin's words. They would do whatever she said.

"Then it's settled," President Coin said, making everything official.

"Good," Katniss said. But I could tell she was still worried. Because I was still worried. What if they _did_ find another Mockingjay? What would happen to Peeta?

President Coin and all of the District 13 people got up.

"Oh, and Boggs," President said, turning to face one of her guards. "Please escort the three trespassers down to the jail cells."

I stood there for a moment, wondering who she was talking about.

Then I realized. It was me and my friends.

It was so confusing, how fast everything was happening. One minute I was waiting excitedly for Mockingjay to come out. Next minute I was accused of being a Capitol spy (even though I had a t-shirt that said "Down with the Capitol") and was being thrown in District 13 jail. My head was spinning and I finally understood the adrenaline that fueled Katniss the past couple years. But I held it in. I wasn't going to do things without thinking how they would affect other people first.

A guard grabbed my arm and I was reminded of the way that Gale had done the same thing the day before. Gale who stood there now looking confused, not sure if he should believe us, or the President.

Just believe the President, Gale. Just believe her. It will make your life easier. It's never good to be on the President's bad side.

Just as I was pulled out the door, I heard Plutarch say in a let's-change-the –topic-way, "Katniss, look what Cinna left for you!"

**Don't you just love people from the Capitol? TELL ME ABOUT IT. Yes, _You_. Press the button. And type the word jail.**

**~writergal24**


	9. Chapter 9: She Knows

**IMPORTANT A/N!**

**Um, hi there. How's it going? Enjoying life? Where have I been? Um... hiding.**

**But it's not my fault! It's, like... okay, yeah it is. I was going through a writing slump, where, no matter what I tried to write, I just couldn't. Fanfics? No. New novels? No. Even editing my finished novel? No! I was just sick of staring at a Word Document I guess. But, I think it's over, which is good because it is almost November.**

**You guys know what that means, right? It means NaNoWriMo. It means that I'm writing 30,000 words in one month (I'm not ready for 50,000 yet). It means that I'm officially going to have no time. You guys should totally do it and friend me! (I have the same username there)**

**So while I will appreciate your "When are you going to update" and "Update soon" messages, if it doesn't happen this week, it's probably not going to until... December. SORRY!**

**Ok, getting to Jabberjay... the plot is really starting to pick up now, and that was another reason this took so long. I had help from junbug24 to pick which plotline to follow, and I'm hoping I chose the right one!**

**Hope you guys like it!**

President Coin and one of the guards led me out of the cell. I followed them blindly, wondering what kind of surgery they had had done on their eyes to allow them to see in this kind of darkness. After shuffling down a long hallway, I was brought into a room full of light, with 2 large chairs in it. Coin sat down in one, so I sat in the other. It sunk around me, almost too comfortable.

"How have your accommodations been?" she asked. She picked up a notepad and put it on her lap, but didn't write anything down. She held the pen and twirled it between her fingers.

I snorted. "Beautiful. I doubt I would have had as nice a jail cell anywhere else."

Coin acted as if my comment had been dead serious.

We sat there silently for a moment.

Finally I sighed. "Okay, what's your evidence?"

"Excuse me?" Coin asked, her thin lips turning down at the corners.

"What makes you think that we are spies?"

"This," Coin announced, turning her notebook around. In it was a detailed copy of the cover of _Mockingjay_. It had the large Mockingjay symbol on it, the brilliant mix of blues, the author's name. It was perfect, right down to the "_New York Times_ Bestselling Author" label above Suzanne Collins' name.

"Ah."

They found my book.

"Have you read it?" I questioned.

"I can't answer that question. But I'm entitled to ask you the same thing."

I looked at her carefully. "No," I told her. "I haven't gotten a chance to yet."

Coin nodded, but she showed no pleasure in being right about us knowing something we shouldn't. "Care to explain?"

"We aren't from the Capitol," I assured her.

She waited for more of an explanation.

"You see, we are from a whole other world, one where all of this is… well, a book." I took a deep breath and crossed my legs. "In our world, the Hunger Games are all a big fantasy, set in the future even. I'm from North America – the United States to be exact."

Coin nodded once again.

"Do you believe me?" I asked desperately.

Coin drummed her fingers against her notebook a few times and then looked up at me. "I think I do. I just don't know how it's possible."

"Me neither."

Coin paused for a moment. "Do you know how the war is going to end?" Her voice lacked some of its usual power, and she almost sounded normal and pained.

"No. I didn't read the book yet." And I guessed that she hadn't either. She probably had people sitting in some other room speed-reading.

Coin cleared her throat. "As I said, we don't know how any of this happened. But we are going to try and figure out."

The way she said it… it scared me. I didn't know what she was talking about.

But I was definitely right to be scared.

Because the next thing I knew, there were guards around me, restraining me. One was carrying a very long needle.

"You'll be very helpful to us, Lana," President Coin said.

The needle went into my arms, but I barely even felt it.

I wanted to ask her how she knew my real name, but suddenly I felt extremely dizzy, like I had been spun around to play Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Only now, someone had set off a smoke-bomb of some sort, so when I tried to open my eyes, even when I took off the blindfold, I couldn't see anything. Everything was confusing.

After the fog started to clear up a little bit, I couldn't remember anything. I couldn't remember who I was. Where I was. Where I had come from. Who was with me.

And most importantly, what the hell was I doing here?

**Confused? Do you know what's going on or are you dying from suspense? Or does it bore you. I dare you to send me a review guessing what's happening. I double dog dare you (can't refuse those)**

**Please tell me how I can improve and what I'm doing right!**

**~writergal24**


	10. Chapter 10: The White Room

**Can you say 10 chapters? I can! TEN CHAPTERS! *Happy dances***

**So I'm updating. And it's not December.**

**I'm not sure about this chapter, but I trust that you guys will tell me at the end?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games, or my Peeta, who has not been in this story very much.**

I was sitting in a room that was completely white. The walls were white, the floor was white, the bed I was lying on was white, and even the bulky machines were white.

It looked oddly like a hospital room.

The nurse standing in the corner of the room was also completely white. She wore a full white bodysuit, had white skin – like, literally white – and cream white hair. "Lanavia? How are you doing?" she asked.

I stared at her.

She walked over to me and checked a couple of the machines. "Lanavia, can you understand me?" she asked slowly.

I nodded and licked my lips which were unbearably dry. "Yes," I told her hoarsely.

A huge smile spread over the nurse's face. "Good, good," she encouraged. "How do you feel?" she urged.

I blinked a couple of times, trying to find an answer to her question somewhere in me. "What's my name?" I asked.

Her smile continued to grow, showing off her white teeth. "Your name is Lanavia."

"Lanavia," I repeated. Was it my name? It sounded… odd. But I couldn't think of any other name.

In fact, I couldn't think of anything.

"You know what? I better call in President Coin," she thought aloud.

"President?" I repeated.

The nurse laughed. "Oh, yes." She stood up and left the white room, leaving me alone.

I looked at my hand and the expression "I know it like I know the back of my hand" popped into my mind. But my hand… I couldn't recall ever seeing it before. It was tanned and olive-toned. The veins stretched up from my wrists to my fingers, giving my hand a slightly blue/green tint. There was a large freckle on my left index finger.

The door opened again. A woman with silky gray hair walked in cautiously, the nurse and a tall man following behind her.

The woman smiled, and though she looked old, no wrinkles appeared in her face. Her skin was almost as smooth as her hair. "Lanavia," she greeted. "How are you doing?"

"I don't know," I responded. "Who are you?"

The woman placed a hand over her heart, but her eyes looked excited. She took two steps closer to my bed. "It's me, President Coin."

"Do I know you?" I asked her politely.

She let out a high laugh, but it sounded strained, as though she hadn't done it in years.

I didn't know who this lady was, but I could already tell I didn't like her. I could tell that she'd had plastic surgery and that she wasn't very happy. How did I know her?

"Of course you know me, silly," President Coin insisted. "Do you remember anything?"

I paused. "I don't know," I said truthfully.

President Coin couldn't decide whether or not to yell at me or to jump up and down. I could tell by the way her gaze turned to a glare, yet her frown turned into a cheerful smile. She began to pace. "Oh, Lanavia, it was so tragic! You were walking down the stairs, and you tripped over a ball that one of the kids left lying around. You went flying down two staircases. You got a horrible concussion. That must be why you don't remember anything."

"I got a concussion," I said again, trying to figure out why that seemed so weird. Why did everything she said sound weird? "When am I going to be out of here?"

The nurse laughed. "Don't push it, honey. You'll be here as long as you need to be. Then you'll be free."

Then I could go home. "Where do I live?" I asked.

They exchanged a glance. "Well, you were born and raised in District 5, but you're in District 13 now."

"District?"

"Yes, the country is broken into 13 Districts? And the Capitol is the controller?"

Now that she said it, it did kind sound of familiar, like something out of a dream. "The Capitol," I whispered, mystified. I wondered if I'd ever been there and if I had just forgotten.

President Coin was starting to look pissed that I was repeating everything she said. She flipped her perfect silver hair over her shoulder and looked around the room. "Well, I think I should leave you to recover. I'll be back later to talk to you. We have some important things to talk about."

"Like what?"

She smiled. "You'll find out later, Lanavia. Rest."

And then I didn't have a choice because the nurse stuck a needle in my arm that put me to sleep. I dreamed about this little store that had bookshelves along all the walls, and a hyper lady named Franny jumping around.

* * *

When I woke up, there was food sitting on the table next to me. So I picked it up and started eating it out.

I spit it back out. What was this?

There were spoons, forks, and knives all available. It was in a bowl. There was a tall cup of water next to it.

But this was most definitely not food. It was like mush.

My stomach growled and I lightly tapped it, as though that would shut it up. I tried to ignore it, but I was just so hungry. So I ate the mushy thing that was in the bowl and held down the vomit.

When I got to the bottom, I felt something rough in my mouth, so I spit it out.

It was a little piece of paper. I uncurled it and found a message on it.

_I believe you_, it read.

What was that supposed to mean? I curled it back up and tossed it in the garbage pail. I placed the empty bowl back on the table, chugged some water to get the taste out, and fell asleep.

This time I dreamed about dancing lollipops.

**Now it's time for me to go to bed so I can dream about dancing lollipops! Review!**

**~writergal24**


	11. Chapter 11: I Did What?

**November is over! And that means that I will be updating. Don't expect daily updates though.**

**So, here's a recap of The Jabberjay so far in case you've forgotten: Lana and her two BFFs Rachel and Lizzie are sucked into the world of Mockingjay, even though they haven't read the book yet. They meet Katniss and Gale who drag them back to District 13 where President Coin gets pissed and then accuses them of being spies from the Capitol and tells Katniss that it's all her fault. Katniss is no longer able to negotiate all of her conditions. So she makes a deal with Coin, saying that she has until the end of the week to find a replacement for her as the Mockingjay. If she can't, they will rescue Peeta. Either way, Katniss will resume her position as Mockingjay at the end of the week. Lana is seperated from her friends and then taken in for questioning. Suddenly, she wakes up and she can't remember anything. At all. **

**And that's what you missed in the Jabberjay. (Haha, just like Glee)**

**So I've kind of forgotten all of my plans, but I'm going with it. Tell me if something doesn't make sense or if it just plain old sucks.**

**Hope you guys enjoy!**

"We need you Lanavia," President Coin told me. She was sitting on the edge of my bed, her muscles tensed as though she ready to spring at any moment.

I nodded slowly. "For what exactly?"

I'd been in this room for three days and I was getting sick of the color white and of the horrible food that they fed me and of seeing nobody except for President Coin and the nurses.

"You are our leader," she told me, reaching her hand halfway towards me, then letting it drop awkwardly onto the white blankets.

"Am I?" I asked. To be honest, I didn't really care what President Coin had to say. She'd been feeding me all of these stories, but none of them seemed to fit. I remembered the Capitol and the Districts, but the memory was kind of fuzzy. And the story about falling down the stairs just didn't seem true at all.

President Coin nodded enthusiastically. "Of course. You see, the Capitol… you remember what I told you about the Capitol, right?"

I nodded and recited, "The Capitol created these things called the Hunger Games where they forced kids from the districts to fight to the death. They did this every year, and every year 23 kids were killed." I paused. "I just don't really see how that fits in with me."

President Coin sighed and pursed her thin lips together. Her grey eyes avoided mine for a moment, but then she finally looked up at me and said, "Look, Lanavia, there's something I've been keeping from you. But only for your own good. The doctors warned me that, if I told you, your recovery could be slowed down even further."

I stared into her empty eyes. "What?"

"Your older sister… she was killed in the Hunger Games," President Coin said, her face sad, but her eyes still empty.

"My older sister?"

She nodded solemnly.

"I have an older sister?" I questioned.

"Had," she corrected. She made a sad face. "I'm sorry."

I thought about it for a moment. Surely if I had an older sister I would have some memory of her, wouldn't I? Especially if she had been tragically killed by some government that was controlling us? Wouldn't I remember?

But I couldn't remember a father or a mother. Or a teacher or a friend. Or even just some random annoying kid. I couldn't remember anyone. So maybe I did have an older sister.

Still… I had been so sure that I was an only child.

I sighed. "Was I sad?" I asked President Coin.

She shrugged. "I didn't know you yet. But probably. It was only when you walked up to the victor that killed your sister that I found out about you. You were about to hit her, but then she told you she was sorry. And you hugged her."

I closed my eyes and imagined it for a moment. "What color hair?"

"Excuse me?"

"What color hair did she have?" I repeated.

"Oh, um, black," President Coin told me, sounding extremely confused.

But no matter how long I kept my eyes closed, I still couldn't imagine the scene. Me hugging the girl who had killed my older sister. My older sister. So I opened my eyes. "And how does this make me your leader?" I asked, kind of curious.

"It started a small rebellion, which grew to include all of the districts. And you hugging that girl kept it going," President Coin explained, smiling.

I raised my eyebrows. "Me hugging someone started a rebellion?"

She nodded. "The people in the districts were already pretty mad at the Capitol and this act of kindness set them off."

"Ah," I said. "So what do you need me to do exactly?"

Finally the smile on President Coin's face looked genuine. "We need you to create some videos that we can show the public. We think that if they think you've given up, they will give up. And we can't let them give up."

"So I just need to make videos?" I was started to feel kind of bad about the plethora of questions that I shot at her, but I was really confused and I was trying to get all of the facts to fit together in my mind.

"Yes. That's all," President Coin assured me.

I shrugged. "I guess I can do that."

President Coin's smile stretched even farther across her face. "Perfect. Now, we will probably wait to start filming until you have fully recovered, but I doubt that will take long." Her eyes scanned my slumped body and she winced delicately as though she took back what she had just said. "Thank you, Lanavia," she said before standing up and leaving the room.

* * *

Later that night, when I was almost asleep, I was thinking about all of the things that President Coin had told me since I had woken up. It was just so confusing…

That was when I heard the screaming.

There was one voice, a high one, a desperate one. And there was another that was low and scruffy, commanding the first person what to do

In addition to the voices there were footsteps running up and down. There was scuffling. There was the sound of metal making contact with other metal.

I couldn't tell most of what they were saying. I was tempted to climb out of bed and go through the door, but I hadn't stood up once since I had woken up and I doubted that it was a good time to check out my legs.

So I just lay there and listened to the voices. I tried to imagine what was going on out there. I was somewhat consoled by the fact that there were people out there and that I wasn't stuck with President Coin in the middle of nowhere, but I was also worried that maybe I wasn't with the people that I should have been with – what if I was with the bad guys?

Just before they went away and I fell asleep, I could hear the first voice screaming, "Wait! Lana!"

I couldn't figure out why this was so weird for a moment. It was silent. Both voices had been silenced. _Maybe it's the name_, I thought, because the name Lana did kind of ring a bell.

But then I finally realized what it was that was confusing me about those voices: I had recognized the first one.

**I haven't gotten many reviews in awhile. Want to review for me? Pretty, pretty please with sugar on top?**


	12. Chapter 12: Lights, Camera Jabberjay?

***Beware. I'm about to go off on a Christmas rant. If you would prefer not to read it, please skip to the unbolded part. Thank you.***

**As I write this, it is 31 minutes until Christmas Eve, which means that it is 24 hours and 31 minutes till Christmas. I'm so excited!**

**I can't think of much more to say than that, so now I will say Merry Christmas in various languages.**

**"Zhu ni sheng dan kuai le" (Mandarin). "Feliz Navidad" (Spanish). "Maligayan Pasko" (Phillipines). "Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia" (Polish). "Froehliche Weihnachten" (German). "(Och) Ett Gott Nytt År" (Swedish). "Sreken Bozhik" (Macedonian). "Buone Feste Natalizie" (Italian). "Hyvaa Joulua" (Finnish). **

**FYI, I tried to get it in every language that my stories have gotten visitors from this month but I think I missed some. So if I spelled the way you say Merry Christmas wrong or I didn't include it, please feel free to tell me!**

**Hope you enjoy!**

**(PS - I don't own the Hunger Games - as though you've never heard that before)**

"Hi! This is Lanavia, your Jabberjay," I said into the camera, a huge smile plastered on my face. I hoped it wasn't too obvious that I was reading off of the cue cards that President Coin's assistant was holding behind the camera. "I'm still here and I'm still… fighting."

President Coin sighed and said for the millionth time, "Cut. Alright, break for ten minutes."

The cameras clicked off and the gracious cameramen, makeup ladies, and set people ran off set, leaving me sitting there on a huge white couch as it had been decided that I wasn't strong enough to be standing.

Lips tight in a grimace, Coin approached me and lightly sat down on the couch next to me. "I'm sorry, I just don't understand. What's wrong, Lanavia?"

This was hell. That's what was wrong.

When she had told me that there were going to be other people at the video filming, I'd been really excited. In my head, I pictured a room full of people whose names I would be able to match to faces when I saw them, jogging my memory completely. I'd imagined people that were excited to see me and were excited to help me. I'd imagined that they would explain what was going on.

But instead, I was surrounded by people that I couldn't remember and that didn't know me. People who were too worried about whether my hair looked perfect to wonder how I was feeling. People who were more worried about their jobs than my life.

And I just couldn't do this! I kept trailing off in the middle of sentences, messing up the easiest words, confusing the order of the words.

But I couldn't tell Coin that. She'd get really pissed at me. So I just said, "I don't understand what the Jabberjay is." It was true. I had no idea what that was supposed to mean. I'd never heard of a Jabberjay before.

Coin smiled devilishly, as though I had finally asked her a question that she enjoyed answering. "There's a bird called the Jabberjay. The Capitol made it, but it backfired on them. You were wearing a pin in the shape of a Jabberjay when you hugged that girl who killed your sister and people just automatically thought of it as your symbol."

I nodded, though I still didn't really understand. "And the other thing… I'm not really fighting right now. It's kind of lying."

Coin's hand fell on my arm. "Honey, if you were strong enough, you would be out there fighting. But right now you just need to focus on regaining your strength and remembering everything, okay?"

I nodded unsurely. "I guess."

"Good," President Coin said. She glanced down at some electronic and announced, "It's been ten minutes." She clapped her hands together a bunch of times to let everybody know that they should come back.

I put the fake smile back on my face, hoping that it looked real enough for the people that I was supposedly helping.

President Coin gave me a huge smile as the cameras turned on and the bright lights shined down on my heavily-made-up face.

"Hey. This is Lanavia, your Jabberjay. I'm still here and I'm still fighting, just like you guys are," I said, even though it wasn't true. Then I raised my hand up like the cue card said to. "For my older sister who died in the Hunger Games. Down with the Capitol!"

* * *

I had also suspected that, after shooting that commercial thing and being exposed to all of those people who weren't nurses, I would be released from my boring, white room.

But no. Right when Coin had decided that we had taken the final take, I was carted right back up to the room to sit in the bed and, well, lie there. There was some kind of television in the corner, but nobody had offered to turn it on and I had a feeling that if I asked the answer would be no.

Oddly enough, I found that I was really tired even though it was still light out. Maybe it was because of all of those lights or maybe it was walking down those stairs. Whatever it was, I fell right asleep.

I must have been asleep for a long time because the next time I opened my eyes, it was still light out and my breakfast was waiting for me.

Half of the bowl of oatmeal-ish stuff had been gobbled down when I saw the girl standing in the corner.

I should have seen her before then. She totally stood out from the white room with her dark skin, her jet black hair, and her navy blue suit. And she was just standing against the wall, not hiding or anything.

A scream slid up my throat. For all I knew, this girl could be from the Capitol. But I held the scream down, placed my bowl on the nightstand, and said, "Hello."

Her dark head bowed down a quarter of an inch, but that was the only acknowledgement I got besides for her gray eyes on mine. She had gray eyes just like President Coin, although they were very different. Coins' were silvery. This girl's eyes were stormy.

I coughed quietly, feeling really awkward. "Do I know you?"

The stormy eyes narrowed. "What is that supposed to mean?" she asked, looking suspicious. She slunk even closer to the wall.

"Well, I don't remember anything so if I know you, I apologize for not recognizing you."

Now she took a step closer to me and _I_ resisted the urge to slide away from her. "You honestly don't know who I am?"

I shook my head.

"It's me, Katniss," she said. Then she waited for me to signify that I remember, but I did nothing. "Katniss. Remember?"

"Sorry," I told her. "Katniss is an odd name."

Truthfully, I did kind of remember the name. But other than that feeling that I _should_ know, I didn't. So I wasn't going to get her hopes up by mentioning it.

"From your book."

"My book?" I repeated.

Katniss sighed. "Come on, please remember me," she implored. "It will make being mad at you so much easier."

I cleared my throat. "You're mad at me?"

Katniss took another step closer to me. "Well, yeah. I mean the Jabberjay? I thought I could trust you guys, and then you go against me like this. And Lizzie and Roselle are like, no, no, she would never do something like that, but I don't believe them. I think you're all in on this."

"I don't understand anything you just said," I told her, blinking.

"Why?" Katniss asked, frustrated. She threw her hands up in the air. "You don't remember Lizzie and Roselle?"

I paused and thought about it for a moment. "Lizzie and Roselle? No, I don't think so…" It was the same as with Katniss. I knew I should know the names, I just didn't know who they were and how I knew them.

"And the phrase 'The Mockingjay' means nothing to you at all?" she checked.

I made a face. "I don't even know what Jabberjay means. Don't confuse me," I begged, thinking about my horrible performance earlier that day.

Katniss sunk into a plastic chair and rested her head on her hands, her dark hair sweeping around her. "How did you forget all of this?"

"President Coin said that I got a concussion when I fell down the stairs."

Katniss jumped up. "You've been talking to President Coin?"

I laughed humorlessly. "She's the _only_ one I've been talking to," I complained, rolling my eyes at the poor company that the president was.

"So she definitely is behind this…" Katniss muttered. "What am I thinking? Of course she is! She just wants to win our deal!"

"Yeah… don't know what you are talking about again," I told her.

"Don't worry, it's not important right now," she said, walking towards the door. "Now listen, you can't tell anyone that I was here, especially not Coin. That's really important."

"Wait! No, don't leave. Please! I'll be all alone again." I could feel tears pricking at my eyes. I was sick of lying around this place, waiting for something to happen, waiting for someone to show up and make this white room more interesting.

That was exactly what Katniss had done, showing up with her dark complexion and hair, standing out against my white room.

And now she was leaving.

"Just promise me that you won't tell anyone," she said.

Unwillingly, I grumbled, "I promise."

"Good." Her dark hand fell against the door knob. She turned around and looked at me with her gray eyes. "Look, Lana, I know I seem mad at you, but I'm really only mad at Coin. And I'm going to get you out of here. I promise you that."

**Did you like it? Tell me.**

**Oh, and by the way, Merry Christmas!**

**(sorry if you aren't Christian, I'm just really excited :D )**


	13. Chapter 13: Me on TV

**A/N: I APOLOGIZE IF YOU GOT AN ALERT AND TRIED TO FOLLOW A LINK AND IT DIDN'T WORK. I'M HAVING SOME TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. HOPE YOU GUYS SEE THIS... EVENTUALLY.**

**I wasn't planning on having a chapter up this week, but I opened my current novel and I had no idea what to write next, so I decided to work on this. Don't expect another chapter soon because I have midterms coming up in a few weeks. Although, if I have a snow day on Friday I might be able to get the next chapter done... BTW, if you guys are confused by what's going on... well, so am I :)**

**I don't own the Hunger Games because... well, because I'm not Suzanne Collins.**

**This chapter is dedicated to lipslikefire who reviewed eight times on one day. Thank you!**

I hadn't seen anyone in hours.

Usually when I woke up, there was breakfast waiting for me on my nightstand. Okay, it was the most disgusting stuff I had ever tasted, but it was still breakfast.

But even though it was obviously morning, there was no food on the table.

Unable to fall asleep, I sat there for hours staring at the wall and thinking about everything that had happened the last couple days. From shooting that commercial-thing to that girl Katniss breaking in to talk to me.

The weirdest part about Katniss hadn't been the way that she had just been standing in my room staring at me, nor was it the way that she expected me to know her. It was the fact that, instead of calling me Lanavia, she called me Lana. And I was positive that I had heard that name before. I just couldn't think of when.

I was starting to get really hungry, and though I didn't really enjoy the company of the stuffy old nurse who looked after me now, I couldn't wait for her to come and ask me in her annoying voice has I was doing.

I slipped out of bed. My feet hit the cold, white floor with a light thud and I stretched. I probably hadn't left my bed in days. I walked around in a circle a few times as though I was trying to remind myself how to walk.

When I started feeling tired, I stopped and looked around the room for any sign of why I had suddenly been abandoned.

But the only thing that was interesting at all was the TV remote.

I was positive that I wasn't supposed to be watching the TV, but, glancing over my shoulders to make sure someone wasn't hiding in the corner, I pressed the on button and the little screen above my bed hummed and crackled.

Even though I couldn't remember anything, I was positive that this place was the oddest place I had ever seen. It had tall, tall buildings, skyscrapers even. But they weren't gray or black or white or any normal color for a building. One in the front was neon green. Another was orange. Another had stripes of different colors on every floor.

The people walking down the streets were just as strange. They had bright-colored skin, wore flashy clothing, and not one of them looked natural.

"…heat wave here in the Capitol," the news reporter was saying in the background of this crazy scene. One of the girls walking down the street did a complicated cartwheel, then stopped to fan herself off as the camera zoomed in on her. "Record setting temperatures, reaching well over 120 degrees Fahrenheit. I'd recommend staying inside today people." The camera flashed to a man with a 3-foot tall hat and flashy pink eyes that were winking at the camera.

The woman next to him had no hair except for a thin strip of red down the middle that was almost too thin to be called a Mohawk. It looked more like the hair a newborn baby would have. The woman obviously thought she looked amazing though, based on the pompous smile on her face and the insane amount of makeup that covered it.

"I'll be taking that advice, Barney," the woman said, showing a tattoo of a black heart on her tongue, and her gold encrusted teeth that probably had never had a cavity, like, ever.

I laughed at the man's name. Who names their kid Barney? It's asking for him to be teased.

Barney's pink eye winked at the camera again. "Tell us what's going on in the Districts, Lamb," he said to the woman.

Oh, gosh. Lamb?

Lamb's smile tensed for about half a second. "Well, Districts 1 and 5 and 8 will have…"

But I never got to find out what the weather would be like in District 1 and 5 and 8 because Lamb's tattooed tongue disappeared from the screen, replaced by…

My face.

It was my commercial. I bit my tongue to keep from screaming and watched as I stared right into the camera and assured them that I was still fighting.

Then I was gone. But Lamb and Barney were not back. Instead, there on the screen was some man that I didn't know. Luckily, though, he didn't have odd colored skin or weird contacts or tattoos in places where there shouldn't be. He actually looked pretty normal.

"Some of you might be wondering who this spunky little girl is," he said. "Do you remember Trina from seven years ago? This is her little sister." The man laughed. "You're probably still confused… Well, all of you know Katniss Everdeen…" Yes, actually, I do. "Katniss was murdered a week ago. But have no fear, Lanavia is here to take her place. She will lead us into the revolution and she will do anything that it takes to help us win this war." The man paused for a long moment. "Now all we need is your support."

The screen flashed back to my face, but I wasn't talking to the camera. I hadn't even known that I was being filmed. I was just sitting there, staring determinedly at the wall like I was thinking about something long and hard.

I probably was. How I really wanted to get out of there.

But I had to hand it to whoever had chosen that footage. People who hadn't been there might have thought that I was thinking about my older sister… Trina. Or that I was thinking about how I wanted to kill the Capitol.

And then my commercial was over and Lamb and Barney were back, their smiles even more tense. "Yes, so the weather will be nice everywhere this week," Lamb finished.

"That's all for now. I hear that we have some great things in store for you now," Barney said, his smile shrinking with every word.

Faster than you could say "Bye," Barney and Lamb were gone and there was a black screen with heavy, white writing that read "The Seventy-Second Annual Hunger Games."

I turned the television off quickly.

I lay back down in bed, even more questions spinning around my head than before I had turned on the TV. Why had that man had to explain who I was? Was my older sister's name really Trina? How was I supposed to lead them into a revolution? What was happening in the Capitol now? Where was President Coin?

And most importantly:

Why had he mentioned Katniss? What did he mean by the Mockingjay? Was she really dead?

**Ooooooh cliffhanger. You guys know I love cliffhangers! Review please please please please? If you have nothing else to say, you can just let me know if you are as obsessed with Taylor Swift's album Speak Now as I am ;)**

**~writergal24**


	14. Chapter 14: The Truth

**Well, aren't I lazy? I haven't updated in a month and then I write a chapter and don't get it up for three days after.**

**[Quick reminder as to what's happened: Lana lost her memory, Coin used her as the Jabberjay, and she announced that Katniss was dead. Dun dun dun]**

**You guys probably don't care, but I'm going to tell you the story behind this chapter. I was supposed to be working on a scene from my novel that I really, really, really don't enjoy writing, so I went on iTunes to try and find some songs to inspire me. I found the Free Song of the Week or whatever that things called. Just copy this link (.com/watch?v=o37O-xMgbI8) and you will be magically transported there (if that worked. I'm not sure...) Anyway, it doesn't actually have anything to do with this chapter, but I kind of just thought about the lyrics and this came to mind.**

**FYI, I totally hate this chapter. It seems very filler-ish to me. But, in writing it, I think I've begun to understand the rest of my plot!**

**As if you didn't know, I'm not Suzanne Collins and never shall be. And I won't be a published author ever if I don't stop procrastinating! (But if you're looking for a method of procrastination, please go read Lauren Oliver's Delirium... except it doesn't come out for a couple more days. I got the ARC last night and I'm already done with it. Yeah. It was that good.)**

**OMG, OMG, OMG, I went to go post this and I found something out! Jabberjay now has 100 reviews! You guys are the best!**

**Anyway, that was a very long A/N. I apologize. I hope you enjoy!**

Rubbing my eyes, I sat up and reached over to grab the cup of water that sat on my nightstand. Just as I wrapped my hand around it, a hoarse voice said, "Hey, Lana."

The cup clattered to the ground and the water dripped all over the floor.

"Oh, it's just you," I said in surprise, looking up at Katniss who stood in the corner of my room, watching me cautiously. Finally she sighed, grabbed some paper towels and started mopping up the mess that I had just created.

"What did you do, Lana?" Katniss demanded as she propped the cup back onto the table.

"Hey, it was just a little bit of water."

She rolled her eyes. "Not that. I mean the video you shot. I saw it. What in the world were you thinking?"

"They said you were dead," I pointed out, not sure how to respond to her question.

Katniss scowled. "Yeah, they lied. That's not my point. My point is…" she trialed off and shook her head. "I can't even get mad at you because you don't remember what happened. God, I hate her _so_ much."

I bit my lip. "Did I do something wrong? I just did what President Coin told me to."

Katniss' eyes searched my face for a long moment. "Yeah, it turns out that that doesn't seem to be the best thing to do sometimes."

"So I shouldn't have done that?" I asked.

"Let's just say that Coin didn't tell you the truth exactly," Katniss explained.

I held my head in my hands. "Then will you? Because how in the world am I supposed to decide what's right if I don't even know what's going on?" My voice had risen to a quiet yell and I was left panting. Obviously, I hadn't been this angry in a long time.

"I want to tell you. I just don't understand where you came from."

"Then tell me your story," I requested. "Then I'll know something at least."

Katniss sat down on the edge of my bed hesitantly and starting telling me about the Hunger Games and the Capitol. She told me about how she herself had been in the Hunger Games, but that her experience had been a little bit different than most of the other winners'. She hadn't been the only survivor. Peeta Mellark, she told me, the other tribute from her District had also survived.

"How did that happen?"

A deep blush spread over Katniss' face. "We, well, I pretended to be in love with him, and he… he actually was in love with me," she mumbled. "Whatever, that's not important. What's important is we defied the Capitol and it kicked the rebellion off."

My confused look stopped her story. "But Coin told me that the rebellion was kicked off because I hugged some girl that killed my sister."

"Look, Lana…" Katniss looked uncomfortable. It didn't look right on her. She was supposed to be the one scowling, grinning dauntlessly. "I don't think you have an older sister. Maybe you do, but… even if do, she wasn't in the Hunger Games."

Even though I had suspected so much since Coin had told me about my older sister, I felt my heart sink. I really was all alone.

"All I know about you is that Gale and I found you wandering around District 12 – that's my home – and you said you were trying to get to District 13. So we gave you a ride. A couple days later, Coin announced that you guys were spies from the Capitol. And she said that you would be punished and you were thrown in jail. But I talked to Roselle and Lizzie secretly and they said you were gone and I found you here."

Katniss looked at me to see how I took that information.

"Who's Gale, who's Roselle, and who's Lizzie?" I asked desperately.

Katniss sighed. "Gale's my best friend and Roselle and Lizzie are your best friends," she explained quickly. "Ringing any bells?"

I shook my head and let out a cold laugh. "Not at all."

Katniss also laughed, but hers sounded less bitter and more… insane. It kind of scared me actually. "Well, I guess we are screwed," she declared. Then she laughed some more. "I mean, you have no idea who you are. I have no power because everyone thinks I'm dead. Gale's slightly afraid to help me. And Peeta…" She laughed again.

"Is there something wrong with Peeta?" I asked cautiously.

Katniss shook her head quickly. "I don't want to talk about it," she told me.

"Okay." I leaned over and grabbed the bowl of oatmeal that was sitting on my nightstand and ate a couple bites. I looked up at Katniss and found her giving me a really weird look. "What? Did I spill water on my shirt?"

She shook her head. "No, it's… I can trust you, right?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

Katniss glanced around. "The truth is I think I do want to talk about it." Katniss sounded really, realty unsure about this.

I put my bowl down. "Well, I have no advice to give considering that I don't remember any experiences that I've ever had, but I can certainly listen. I have all the time in the world," I reminded her, gesturing towards the empty room.

Katniss nodded, but she didn't start to speak for another minute. "Peeta was captured by the Capitol."

"No," I gasped.

"Yeah… and I miss him so, so much. I mean, he's been there for me the past couple years. He's never been anything but nice to me. But I just don't know if the feelings I have for him are necessarily romantic."

"Do you get butterflies in your stomach when you see him?"

Katniss frowned. "Yes, sometimes, but…"

"Do you care more about his safety than your own?"

"Yeah, but I care more about Gale's and Prim's too," she objected.

I paused. "How often do you think about him?"

Katniss' face turned bright red. "All the time. I'll be sitting, eating oatmeal, and all of a sudden I'll remember when we had oatmeal together one morning on the Victor's Tour."

I didn't know what the Victor's Tour was, but I knew how Katniss was feeling. "I think you're in love with him," I told her.

She pushed herself off of my bed. "But what if I'm wrong?" she exclaimed, her white teeth glinting in the fluorescent lights. "What if I don't love him? What if I tell him that I do, and then it turns out I don't?"

"What if you ignore him and ten years from now you look back on your relationship and you wish that you had talked to him about it at least?"

Katniss gave me a cool look. "I regret so many things, Lana. One more thing wouldn't make too much of a difference."

"Katniss, I can't tell you what to do. You have to decide for yourself." I sighed. "And now, I need your help. What am I supposed to do about President Coin? I still don't really understand any of this stuff? Is the whole Jabberjay thing a lie too?"

Katniss started to explain about some deal she had made with Coin about how she couldn't find a new Mockingjay – Katniss was the original Mockingjay – by the end of the week, so Coin had taken the easy way out by taking my memory away and feeding me a lie to make me believe that the position was mine.

"I'm so sorry, Katniss," I apologized when she had finished.

"It's not your fault, Lana. She tricked you. You didn't know that she was lying."

I shook my head. "I still feel really bad about all of this. And now… how are you going to get Peeta here?"

A smirk rose on Katniss' face. "I actually have a plan for that. It's not completely ready yet, but if I could just have a few more days, I think that I _might_ be able to make it work." She stared at the door like she wanted to rush out and work on it.

"Are you going to tell me what it is?" I teased.

Katniss' smirk turned wicked. "Well, you see, I'm not the only one who cares about more than just murdering President Snow…"

I had a dream that night. There was a boy. He looked so familiar, but I had absolutely no idea who he was. He was standing maybe a hundred yards away from me, about a football field away, and he was waving his arms high above his blonde head.

**Ooooh, cliffie :) Any guesses on who this mysterious beau is?**

**If you review and tell me your name (or a fake name that you would rather have me use) I will write you into my next chapter! Because I need names and I really hate coming up with them.**

**~writergal24**


	15. Chapter 15: New Faces

**Over a month ago (that was a long month) I posted my last chapter and I asked you guys for names. Not necessarily your names, just names. And I have taken those names and used every single one that I recieved. I would like to point out that the characters I created around this names have nothing to do with the people who gave them to me or how they commented or if they had commented before or anything. I seriously created some characters and went down the list, assigning each name to a character. Again, IF THE CHARACTER WHO HAS THE NAME YOU GAVE ME IS EVIL OR MEAN OR INSANE OR OLD OR YOUNG OR GULLIBLE OR ANY OTHER QUALITY YOU DON'T LIKE, I DID NOT DO IT TO OFFEND YOU. I SWEAR.**

**Now that that's over, I can bring up another very interesting idea. This coming Saturday, March 12, I will have officially been on fanfiction for a year. All I can say to that is has it really been only a year? I've read great stories, talked to great people, and had... interesting conversations. So, I will be holding a (virtual) party on Saturday and if you comment, I will send you (virtual) cookies on Saturday. And that will be our (virtual) party.**

**Other than that, I have to apologize for not updating for so long. I can't help but point out that if I continue this once-a-month thing, I will have only posted 12 times in a year. Gasp. But, then again, my inbox has been seriously lacking alerts the past few weeks so I'm not the only one slacking off (those of you whose stories I read, I'm giving you an evil eye right now). But... don't expect another update soon considering that I don't really know what's going to happen.**

**And I have to apologize for the long A/N. 2 more things. One (disclaimer) I don't own the Hunger Games or the beautiful names that you guys provided me with. And two this chapter kind of sucks so... enjoy?**

Katniss woke me up frantically the next morning, announcing that people were showing up for a meeting in my room 10:30 - in less than ten minutes.

Gee, thanks for the warning.

We tried to make sure that the room was presentable, and that I myself was presentable, and then we sat there and waited. Nobody walked in the first two minutes. At 10:33, Katniss was convinced that she was wrong and that nobody was coming.

Then two giggling teenagers walked through the doors. "Lana!" they exclaimed before running up to my bed and embracing me.

"Roselle and Lizzie," Katniss mouthed over their shoulders.

"Oh. Hey, guys," I murmured.

They ignored the fact that I had no idea who they were and they turned to Katniss, obviously seeing her as the leader of the group. "So, where is everyone?" one of them asked.

Katniss frowned. "I'm not sure, Roselle. But how in the world did you guys get out of jail?" she demanded.

"Jail?" I repeated.

They ignored me.

"We have no idea," Lizzie, the one with reddish hair, answered Katniss. "Our guard just randomly announced that Coin had decided we were not guilty and he brought us to our old compartment. It was so weird."

Katniss stared at the wall for a long moment. "Which guard?"

They told Katniss the guy's name, but I wasn't really paying attention. I was trying to see if I remembered these girls at all. They were my best friends?

And then Katniss was shaking her head furiously and Lizzie's frown deepened. "He's not on our side," Katniss told them and Roselle also made a disgusted face.

"Is anyone?" Roselle asked.

At that exact moment, a boy who looked really, really similar to Katniss slipped in the door. "Hey," he said and I noticed that Roselle did a little swoon at his voice. The boy claimed his spot next to Katniss and leaned against the wall.

"Hey, Gale. Lana, this is Gale. Gale… you already know that this is Lana," Katniss introduced us hastily. Then she looked at Gale hopefully. "Is… is anyone else coming?"

Gale laughed. "Yes, Katniss. Relax. Finnick, Beetee, and Plutarch all said they were coming. Plus, Prim is coming and Rory was threatening to also. Oh, and Haymitch… well, I walked passed his room and he was sobbing, but I think he's coming at some point. And I think some of the other soldiers said they were coming."

Katniss looked relieved.

There was a silence before Roselle struck up conversation with Gale, asking him what color he would dye his skin if he was from the Capitol. I had no idea what they were talking about, but they ended up both deciding on blue.

People began coming in after that and I was introduced to every one of them. First was Haymitch Abernathy, who was clutching a bottle of beer in his right hand and a knife in his left.

"Haymitch, where the hell did you get that?" Katniss demanded as he walked in, pointing at the beer.

"Hey, if we're having a meeting that's against the laws, I'm going to break some laws. Let's just say I know people," he slurred. At least, I think that's what he said.

"Wait. This is against the law?" I demanded.

The other people in the room exchanged glances. "Who's this girl?" Haymitch asked.

"Lana. Remember? I told you about her, Haymitch," Katniss said patiently. But when Haymitch showed no sign of recognition, she added, "She's the Jabberjay."

The room stayed quiet until Haymitch finally answered me.

"Against the law is one way to put it," he told me. "President Coin does not know that we are here. Does that make it against the law? In her eyes, it probably does."

Oh, great. Now I was holding an illegal meeting in my hospital room.

* * *

Ozuma was the first one through the door. He was short and had dark, dark hair. He didn't say much to any of us. The next person, Conan, was pretty much the same. He gave us a sweet smile, gawked at Katniss for a moment, and then kept to himself.

Then Iris walked in with a boom. The door was hardly closed behind her when she said, "We're here to kill Coin, right?"

All of us stared at the 10-year-old girl with long, blonde hair for a few moments, astonished that she had the guts to say what we were all thinking. She went on to explain how she was Coin's 50th cousin once removed or something, but hated her more than anything.

"Even more than Snow?" Katniss asked wryly when she said that.

Iris hesitated before saying, "It's a tie."

As we absorbed this information, and I tried to figure out how the only person I had talked to for days could be evil, a man named Beetee, who was tall and old, walked in with a small blond girl who embraced Katniss and smiled at Gale. Her name was Prim and she was Katniss' sister, though they looked nothing alike. And they acted nothing alike either. Everyone smiled at Prim while people tended to avoid Katniss.

A boy named Rory followed closely behind them – almost as though he had _actually_ been following them – and spent a great deal of time stealing glances at Prim, and then looking at Gale, his big brother.

The next girl, Rysnna made her District 13 suit – which was completely hideous – look good enough to wear on the red carpet. But she didn't seem ready to flaunt this. She wore her dark hair long, as though trying to hide her beauty. And she started talking to Ozuma about how her favorite class that District 13 taught was Technology. Then she went into some long explanation of something that I didn't understand.

After Rysnna comes Francie, who is pretty much the opposite. She's pretty, but she's about 3 times as large as Rysnna and she explains to Gale that she grew up in District 1 where she was a "Career." From what I gathered from their conversation, that meant that she had spent her childhood training for the Hunger Games. She was best with a knife, she said.

Lilliya, Allie, and Emmie came in. Lillya bounced along and she looked rather unwelcome in their group. In fact, the dazed look on her face almost made her unwelcome there at all. Allie had a huge smile on her face that she wasn't afraid to show off. Emmie looked pretty similar to Allie except that she wasn't smiling nearly as much.

Plutarch and Finnick walked in next. They were walking together, but they were not talking. Finnick had his arm in a sling as though he was recovering from an injury. Plutarch was wearing some weird electronic thing on his arm. Other than a quick hello, they didn't say much.

The last three people came in quickly. There was Analyn and Elizabeth. They were talking animatedly as they walked in, but as soon as Analyn's eyes fell on Gale, she began stuttering and blushing. Elizabeth nudged her in the side and Analyn flushed even darker and sat down quickly. Elizabeth joined her.

Finally was Alena Marie who was about sixty years old. However, it wasn't nearly as obvious as it would have been in a woman from District 12. She was pretty fit and whatever plastic surgery/anti-aging products she used really worked well for her. When asked what she was doing there, she responded that she wanted to fight and Coin wouldn't let her. So she was there.

And they were all there for us. Although, in truth, they weren't there for us. They were there for their friends and their families. They were there for the people in their districts that had died in some Capitol-related fashion. They were there for themselves and for their future. They were there for Panem's future.

All at the illegal meeting in my hospital room.

When it seemed that nobody else was coming, Iris turned to Katniss. "So, what's the plan?"

Katniss smiled.

**What did you think? Remember, if you review, you're invited to my (virtual) party on Saturday and I will send you (virtual) cookies.**

**(I send a lot of (virtual) cookies, don't I? Make that (virtual) whatever-food-you-like.)**

**~writergal24**


	16. Chapter 16: The Plan

**Yo. 'Sup? Yup, same here. Life's busy. That's why I haven't updated much. Plus I'm not really a fan of this chapter. I was actually really bored writing it. I'm hoping that the next couple chapters will be more exciting and that I'll have an update sooner, but I can't make any promises.**

**I don't think I have anything else to share. 'Cept that I don't own the Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins does) and that I really hope you enjoy this chapter, even though I didn't haha.**

**BTW, I'm always open to suggestions for what _you_ think should happen next.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

When Katniss had used the word "plan" a few weeks ago, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. Maybe something insane like flying penguins from the equator that were going to carry us in hot air balloons where we were going to be able to easily pick Peeta – and some other people that we were saving that I had just heard about – up off of the roof.

Despite how crazy that sounded, when Katniss had said that we would be stealing a hovercraft from District 13, I might have been even more shocked.

Logically, it wasn't that surprising. Hovercrafts really were an easy way of traveling and there were no other people for us to steal them from. It wasn't like we could ask the Capitol to send us an aircraft so that we could go steal their prisoner in it.

But stealing from Coin had kind of scared me when Katniss had told me about it that same day that she had told me about Peeta.

Nobody else seemed surprised about this in the least bit. In fact, they seemed excited about it.

Lilliya actually _laughed_.

"We'll be taking one hovercraft," Katniss said after giving Lilliya a confused look. "Which means that not everyone here will be able to come. That's good because we'll need people to stay here and manage things. Haymitch and I think that 12 should be a good number of people to go in the hovercraft."

"I'll be one of them," Finnick Odair announced.

Katniss nodded. She shot an annoyed look at Haymitch. "Apparently, I'm not allowed to be one because I'm 'too important.'"

"It's not going to do anyone any good if she gets killed," Haymitch slurred before taking another long slurp. "I'll be staying here too. 'S too suspicious for me to get involved also."

Katniss looked like she didn't agree with any of those statements and I was sure that she was going to attack Haymitch. But she took a long, deep breath and said, "We'll need some more volunteers." She mumbled something else under her breath, probably something insulting Haymitch from the glare she was giving him.

Iris' hand was in the air before she finished.

"No," I objected. "You're too young."

"I agree," Finnick said.

Iris stood up. "I've been through more than you have, I bet," she said. All four-foot-five of her was leaning over my bed. Her blue eyes flickered in the lighting.

"You aren't going, Iris," Katniss announced. "Neither are you, Prim. Or Rory. You three are too young."

Prim and Rory both started to protest. "I'm old enough to be in the Hunger Games," Prim pointed out.

"Too. Bad."

"But…"

"You'll stay here with me, Prim," Katniss said, her tone saying that the subject was over. Prim would not be going.

"Anyone else?" Plutarch asked.

Emmie and Allie raised their hands. "We'll go," Allie announced.

Gale said, "Me too."

"And me," added Analyn and Roselle at the same time.

"Don't forget me," Elizabeth said tossing her hair over her shoulder.

"I'm there," Lizzie said strongly.

Conan softly said, "I'm going."

Rysnna and Lilliya also raised their hands.

So that left Beetee, Plutarch, Haymitch, Prim, Rory, Iris, Ozuma, Alena Marie, Katniss, and me behind. Headquarters were, as I suspected, my hospital room.

"Now, we know that all of the prinsoners are in one building," Katniss said after a long moment. "We will land our hovercraft on the building. We'll have weapons. We invade the building. We kill anyone who is in the way."

"That sounds like fun," Elizabeth muttered sarcastically.

Katniss turned on her. "I'm sorry, do you have a better plan?" Elizabeth stared at her silently. "I don't exactly like the idea either. Personally, I don't want to hear that anyone has ever died again. But if we don't kill them, they kill us. It's that simple. So if you want to stay here and do nothing, be my guest. I'll be doing it, unfortunately."

Elizabeth sulked under Katniss' glare.

"That's what I thought. Friday," she announced. "Our hovercraft is leaving Friday."

We had 4 days.

"And now, we have invaded on Lanavia's room and I'm sure that she would like it back. So we shall leave. Stop back sometime this week for more information. Bye."

And with that Katniss stormed out of the room without so much as a backwards glance.

The room was tense for a long moment as people thought about what Katniss had said. We were leaving on Friday. We were stealing a hovercraft.

They were prepared to kill us.

And as these things sunk in, people began to uncomfortably slide out of the room. Soon the only people left were my "friends," Roselle and Lizzie. The two of them plopped down on my bed like they were exhausted.

"Gale was totally checking me out," Roselle said, though I hadn't noticed it at all.

"Of course," Lizzie told her.

They looked at me expectantly.

"Um… yeah."

"So what's up, Lana? We haven't seen you in _forever_," Roselle gushed.

I shrugged. "I've been here."

Lizzie stared at me for a long moment before hesitantly opening her mouth and saying, "You don't remember us, do you?"

"Not really," I admitted. "But you can remind me."

They exchanged a glance before Roselle said, "We're not from here."

"Roselle, what does that mean?"

She burst out laughing. "You know my name is Rachel, right?"

"Actually… no," I said, a blush spreading across my face. I wished I could just remember these things. I wished she didn't have to tell me.

"Where we live, there's no such thing as the Hunger Games or Katniss Everdeen or, unfortunately, Gale Hawthorne. There's no Panem, no real hovercrafts. No underground District 13," Rachel explained.

"That's not true," Lizzie objected. "They exist. But not in real life. In a book."

"A book?" I repeated.

Rachel nodded. "Yes. The Hunger Games is the first book in a series. And it tells the story of Katniss Everdeen's life. The night that the third and final book, Mockingjay, came out, we went to a party at a bookstore. And when we left, we were suddenly just here. And Katniss was there. And, well, we think we kind of screwed up the plot but we don't know for sure because we haven't been able to read it."

"But in our world, Panem is just this idea of what could happen in the future. You know, if we aren't careful," Lizzie said.

I sat there for a long moment. "So we live like… in the past."

"I guess," Lizzie said. Rachel nodded, though neither of them looked sure really.

"But then none of this actually exists," I realized. "It's all just a book."

They both stared at the floor. "We don't know, Lana. I mean, it doesn't feel like we are in a book, does it? It feels like this is real life. But for the past couple years we've been obsessing over the Hunger Games as though it was a book. And suddenly it's real? It is kind of weird," Rachel admitted.

Lizzie nodded.

There was a long silence as none of us could think of what would make us feel better until Rachel decided that a complete topic change would work. "So, Lizzie, I saw you checking out that Conan guy."

A blush spread over Lizzie's face. "What – I – I don't – I don't know what you are talking about," she spluttered.

"You're kidding, right?" Rachel laughed. "He's cute. Not as cute as Gale, but he's cute. What do you think, Lana? Is he as cute as your Peeta?"

My eyes widened. "Peeta?"

Lizzie laughed. "Oh! You don't remember. You're totally in love with Peeta. You, like, used to imagine that you'd meet him and get married to him."

"Which I totally don't understand because Gale is _obviously_ the better choice," Rachel mumbled.

"But… Katniss loves Peeta, doesn't she?" I said.

"Yeah…" Rachel said. "But… wait. How did you remember that?"

"She told me."

Lizzie's mouth dropped. "Katniss Everdeen told you that she was in love with Peeta? She told you about her feelings?"

"Well, not in those exact words, but it was pretty clear…" I explained.

"You see," Rachel said, "Peeta's in love with her, but in Catching Fire which is the second book, she said she didn't love him, even though she was pretending that she did for the Capitol. You've always said that she really does love him and that she would end up with him in Mockingjay but since we haven't read the book, I don't know that that happens. But you think she's in love with him already?"

"Definitely," I said.

And if I loved him too, that meant that me and Katniss were in love with the same guy. And that meant that things were going to get sticky if, when, he got back here.

"Lana, I bet you we can find a picture of him on TV!" Lizzie squealed, grabbing the remote control and turning it on. She flipped through the channel for a few minutes before she found a picture of a blond boy talking to the camera. "I knew it! There he is!"

I stared at the TV. The boy was cute. Really cute. But what shocked me was that there was something familiar about him. What was it?

I gasped.

"What? Are you in love?" Rachel asked sarcastically.

I shook my head. "That's the boy from my dream," I said softly.

**_There's a button._**

**_(There's a button.)_**

**_It's right there._**

**_(It's right there.)_**

**_You know you want to click it._**

**_(You know you want to click it.)_**

**_So go ahead._**

**_(So go ahead.)_**

**Look, I even sang you a song! Please review!**

**~writergal24**


	17. Chapter 17: Getting Ready

**Good news: I'm back!**

**Bad news: It's been almost four months...**

**Good news: I'm no longer afraid of this story! (I think.) I'm pretty sure that I know what's coming next...**

**Bad news: This chapter is a filler :)**

**Good news: I'm going to give you a recap: Lana and her friends Lizzie and Rachel (aka Roselle) got sucked into the world of the Hunger Games the night that Mockingjay came out and she's been changing what happens. Coin swiped her memory and used her against Katniss. Katniss and the other Victors are planning a secret mission to go rescue Peeta and possibly some other people.**

**Bad news: I still don't own the Hunger Games or Katniss or Peeta.**

**Good news: You guys should probably be happy about that because it would have taken me MUCH longer to get the books out.**

**Bad news: I don't have the next chapter written because I have an extreme case of procrastination.**

**Good news: I love Darren Criss.**

**Bad news: No matter how many times I listen to "Not Alone," it's not going to write the next chapter for me...**

**Good news: Thank you to Amara Kingley for reminding me that it had been four months since I've updated.**

**Bad news: I'm really bad at writing short A/Ns. I'm bored and I needed someone to blab to... so thanks!**

**Enjoy!**

Katniss took up permanent residence in my hospital room the next day.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but don't you have other places that you need to be?" I asked when she walked in.

"Coin doesn't really care what I do. She thinks I'm insane. The Hunger Games tend to do that to people," Katniss explained. She frowned and stared at the floor for a long moment. "Okay, so, we don't know for sure when anyone will be coming, but I have to think that at least a few people will show up today. Haymitch and Finnick are coming at noon to give us an update on information."

I nodded. "So we just sit here?"

"Well… no. Lanavia, does anyone else ever come to visit you? Besides us?" She looked around the room as though she expected someone to be hiding behind the curtains.

"You mean Coin?"

"Not necessarily."

I thought for a moment. "Coin hasn't been here in a few weeks. The nurses do come from time to time though, to deliver my food and stuff. Nobody else comes."

I think Katniss started to say "That's good," but she never finished her sentence because the next second there was a pounding on the door and she flew to the closet.

Pulling the covers back over me, I feebly called, "Come in."

Praying that it wasn't Coin saying that she knew Katniss was in my room, I watched as Finnick Odair walked into the room.

I let out a sigh of relief. Once he'd closed the door, I told Katniss that she could come out of the closet.

Finnick practically ran to her. His eyes were bloodshot. "Is it true? That she might be there. Oh, Katniss, please tell me that it's true!" He fell to his knees and began to sob. "Tell me that you are going to rescue her!"

Katniss shuffled her feet uncomfortably. "Um… who?"

"Annie Cresta," he wailed.

Katniss looked over at me, eyes widened as Finnick wrapped his arms around her. "Um, well, Haymitch and Plutarch said that she might be, but we aren't one hundred percent sure."

He squeezed her even tighter. "Oh, thank you Katniss. Please tell me that we will rescue her."

"We'll try," Katniss said weakly, still shocked that the normally calm, handsome, composed Finnick was on his knees and bawling.

"I have to go and rescue her," he stated. "I can't let them torture her anymore. I have to go."

Finnick hugged Katniss one more time before he ran out of the room.

Katniss stood there silently for a long moment after he'd left. "Who's Annie Cresta?" she finally asked me.

I shrugged. "No idea," I admitted.

"Well…" Katniss said softly. "I guess I'll return to the closet."

"Um… yes."

I didn't know who this Annie Cresta girl was, but whoever she was, she must have been pretty special to do that to the most eligible bachelor in all of Panem.

* * *

"So, what time should we get here at?" the girl asked. She, Katniss, and I sat on my bed. She was one of many that had come during the week to talk to us about what was going to happen on Friday.

"9 o'clock sharp," Katniss replied. She glanced at her watch. "Speaking of time, I have to go. Right now. I'm due in Command. Lana, if anyone else comes, answer what you can and tell them to come back later if they can't."

"Right. See you."

Katniss walked rapidly out of the door so it was just me and the girl.

"Sorry, but what's your name again?" I asked her.

She smiled at me. "I'm Allie." Allie laughed. "Yeah, that must have been pretty hard for you. About 20 new names in just a couple of minutes."

"Yeah, it was a pretty intense afternoon." We both laughed for a moment and then I looked at her seriously. "Are you scared?" I asked.

Allie frowned and looked at the floor for a moment. "I guess, but I have to do this, you know? For my family and for my friends… You remember Emmie?"

"Kind of," I responded honestly.

"Her younger sister was in the Hunger Games a couple years ago. Emmie was too old to volunteer for her by then. And she didn't win. Emmie… well, she took it really hard." Allie looked down for a moment. "Shea was the sweetest girl… she was only thirteen. God, even _I _almost start crying when I think about her. I can't even imagine how hard it is for Emmie. Especially having to watch your sister die on TV and to know that _everyone _is watching this, over and over again."

Allie looked up at me. I was practically crying at the story. I wasn't used to stories like this, not having grown up in Panem. And even if I had heard them when I was younger, I wouldn't remember any of them. I couldn't believe that anyone would ever think that the Hunger Games were a good idea, no matter what they would gain from it.

"I'm sorry," Allie said. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, I'm sorry. And, if she'll listen, tell Emmie that I'm sorry too," I told her.

Allie nodded, a frown on her face.

I didn't know much, not having my memory. But I knew that this was all wrong. And I knew that I was going to do my best to change it. To make it so that the next generation wouldn't have to worry about reapings or losing friends or the Capitol or wars or anything else that kids shouldn't be worrying about.

I was going to help.

**Sooo I would really, really, really appreciate it if you would write a review. It could be one word or you could fill all 18000 characters or however much the maximum is. (Wow, it would be really scary if it was 18000. I spend too much time on this site lol). I haven't been getting many reviews on my other stories lately even though I've updated and I could really use the encouragement.**

**Reviews make the next chapter come sooner!**

**~writergal24**


	18. Chapter 18: The Mission Part 1

**This was the hardest chapter for me to write. In fact, I _hated_ writing this chapter. But now that I'm done with it, I don't actually mind it.**

**Now I shall answer a FAQ! Q: Is Lana based on you? A: Originally, she was supposed to be but she kind of evolved beyond that.**

**That was my FAQ!**

**I should have the next chapter up soon. I haven't started it yet, but I can't wait to!**

**I still don't own the Hunger Games...**

**Recap: Lana has been sent into the Hunger Games, she lost her memory, and now she is part of the mission that is going to rescue Peeta only she isn't actually - she's only helping. And now... it's time for the mission!**

**Oh goodness! In three days, it will have been a year since I started this story! That is CRAZY! Maybe I'll update on the 24th but I might not have time... Thank you for all of the reviews, all of the story alerts, and all of the story favorites that I've recieved in the last year!**

It was really tense in my hospital room on Friday morning. This was kind of funny because I wasn't hurt or sick.

The ten of us were crammed into the room, some sitting on my bed, some sitting in chairs, and others sitting on the floor. We knew that we'd be there for a long time, so we tried to get comfortable.

In between Haymitch and Katniss sat a speaker. Katniss wore a microphone. This was our only means of communication with the 11 of our friends that were posted in various places encircling the hovercraft we were about to steal. All eleven of them wore a headset so that they could talk to us at any point in time.

The plan was pretty simple. Finnick would sneak onto the hovercraft, make sure everything was ready and safe, and then, slowly and steadily, the rest of the group would join him. Then they'd leave and head for the Capitol. We'd acquired maps from our double agent friends that Coin trusted far too much.

Katniss had just told Finnick he should get on the hovercraft in the next five minutes.

So we sat in the hotel room, avoiding each other's eyes, silent. We didn't want to talk or think about what was about to happen and the fact that those were the friends that we'd recently come to care about and they were risking their lives.

Finally, we heard, "I'm in," and I think that, though that was one of the simpler parts of the plan, we all relaxed a little bit. Prim started asking people what their favorite flowers were which released some of the tension, but our voices never rose much higher than whispers so that we could hear when announcements came through the speakers; people were starting to board the hovercraft.

"Man, I'll never get over how awesome these are," we heard Lizzie say and a couple of people cracked a smile.

Fortunately, despite all of our worries about them drawing too much attention and being caught, everyone got on the hovercraft without anyone noticing and soon, they had taken off. And it went so smoothly that it didn't even seem possible.

In the hospital room, we'd all relaxed and several conversations were going on. Someone grabbed some food from the kitchen and everyone had some breakfast – most of us had been too worried to eat before. Apparently we had some spies in the kitchen too because we got the best breakfast I could ever remember having.

And everything seemed to be going good.

They flew for a few hours and we all relaxed during that time. Alena Marie grabbed a deck of cards and taught everybody else how to play a game called "Go Fish" that her great-grandfather had taught her. After 3 hours (I think – I kind of lost track of time), Finnick started telling everyone that they were getting very, very close to the Capitol.

The butterflies in my stomach were back instantly.

What if this all went horribly wrong? I didn't remember Roselle or Lizzie, but they were supposed to be my best friends! Wouldn't I be upset if something happened to them? And any of the others even.

Everybody else in the room seemed to be thinking the same thing. Prim grabbed one of Katniss' hands and one of Rory's hands. Even through my nervousness, I saw Rory blush as he squeezed Prim's hand.

Isis' scowl that she had been directing towards the speakers since she'd arrived deepened.

Haymitch opened another can of beer.

In the corner, Alena Marie closed her eyes and began to meditate.

Beetee wrapped a wire around his thumb, unraveled it, and re-raveled it again. He did this over and over again as they drew closer to the Capitol.

Plutarch kept glancing at the door as though expecting President Coin to jump through it and bust us all.

Ozuma shoveled down yet another doughnut.

Katniss didn't seem to be aware of anything that was going on around her.

I sat there trying desperately to remember things. It was a pretty good distraction, but it didn't work. I still had no memories.

We knew that the Capitol had come into sight when we heard a loud intake of breath from over the microphone. There were several mutters of "Oh my goodness" and a couple people swore under their breath.

"It's beautiful!" Lizzie exclaimed.

"Wow," Emmie gushed.

Allie said, "I wish we weren't going there to capture people. I wouldn't mind going on a vacation here."

A couple people laughed. "Focus," Katniss scolded.

There were no more comments of the Capitol's beauty from over the speakers, but Plutarch was whispering to Ozuma about how tall and magnificent the buildings there were. Ozuma was from District 11 so he was awed by the descriptions. Katniss ignored them.

"Is everybody ready?" Finnick asked.

"Have you guys found the building?" Haymitch slurred, rising and pacing back and forth, beer can still swinging from his hand.

Finnick replied, "Not yet, but we will be there in a minute."

Haymitch nodded. I wondered momentarily if he was too drunk to realize that Finnick could not see him nodding.

"Is that it?" Conan asked over the speakers. He sounded scared. Then again, I was scared, so…

Finnick paused for a long moment before answering. "Yes."

Alena Marie's eyes finally opened. She stared at the speakers intensely.

"We're landing on the roof now," Finnick announced and sure enough we heard a _thud!_ over the speakers.

"Good luck," Prim said quietly.

And then they were off. Armed with every weapon we could sneak from the practice room, the eleven of our friends climbed out of the hovercraft and onto the roof of the building. I kind of wished that I could have been there with them.

They then slid through the emergency hatchet on the roof into the top floor. Again, Finnick went first and surveyed the whole floor. "It's empty," he announced after a few minutes.

"So far, so good," Beetee muttered.

We all nodded silently. I wasn't sure whether that was a good sign or not.

They made it down two more floors. Two more floors of Finnick checking all of the rooms to make sure that they were empty and the rest of the group coming down after him. They encountered nobody.

They were on their fourth floor when, all of a sudden, about 5 people screamed.

Katniss straightened up and grabbed the microphone. "What? What's going on?" she shrieked into it.

No response. Only another chorus of screams.

"What is it?" Katniss demanded, her wild gray eyes darting around the room.

Somebody was crying. No. Maybe two people were crying.

"Did they find you?" Katniss continued. "Are you getting attacked?"

"Yes," answered a voice finally. I think it was Finnick, but it was hard to tell over the cries and screams.

All of us sat up straight and unconsciously leaned into the speakers. This is what we had been waiting for, yet fearing, all day.

"What happened?" Katniss asked.

"Roselle" – grunt – "just shot Lilliya," Finnick said. "And then one of the guards" – grunt – "shot Roselle."

We all froze. What was that supposed to mean? Why in the world would Roselle shoot Lilliya? Was it an accident?

Everyone looked to Katniss, but she looked just as shocked ad helpless as we did. Her eyes had calmed down, but now they stared straight at the speakers deadly, like the sky at the end of a storm. "Are they… alive?"

Finnick didn't answer. For a long moment, we didn't think we were going to get an answer. And then, finally, a voice that sounded distinctly like Lizzie's sobbed, "No."

**Cliffie! Please review! I was reading through my old reviews and they were AMAZING and that's what got me to finally write this chapter!**

**This chapter is dedicated to Life is but a Daydream because I just killed off her character. Sorry! I had to!**


	19. Chapter 19: The Mission Part 2

**Short chapter but I felt like this was the place where it ended, you know? (Plus it was a really quick update!) I am SOOOO excited to write the next couple chapters though. I've been waiting to write them for a few weeks!**

**I've been trying to figure out how many more chapters are coming and I've decided that I have no idea :) I'll probably end up with 30-40 chapters?**

**I don't own the Hunger Games or any characters or places that you read about in Suzanne Collins' books.**

**I don't think there's anything else I have to say so... I hope you guys enjoy! **

The next half hour seemed to blur together in my mind. There were more screams, more grunts, more bangs from over the speakers, but in the hospital room, we had all fallen quiet.

Roselle - Rachel - was dead? Lilliya was dead? How was that possible?

Nobody seemed to understand. So we just sat there and waited for somebody on the other end to give us an update.

It finally came about ten minutes later. "I think that's all of them," somebody said.

"For now," Finnick added.

Katniss jerked to life. "How are you?" she said. Such a common phrase, but it was obvious from her harsh tone that this was no casual greeting. They were no friends meeting on the street, surprised to see each other.

Two of our friends had just died.

"I'm fine," Finnick replied.

"And everyone else?" Katniss demanded.

"I'm okay," Conan said shakily.

Allie's voice came like a whisper over the speaker. "I'm okay, but Emmie has a huge cut on her leg."

"Bandage it," Katniss shot out immediately. Her eyes had grown dangerously dark, more so even than when we'd heard about... about Roselle and Lilliya. "Everybody else?"

"I'm good," Gale said, his voice rough.

Analyn's squeal of "I'm fine" pierced my ears.

"I'll be fine," Elizabeth said.

"Me too," Rysnna told us.

There was silence as we waited for the eleventh person to speak. I couldn't think of who it was. And then Conan's voice softly said, "Lizzie?"

Lizzie said nothing, but her cries were confirmation enough for us.

Katniss sighed. "That's everyone, right?"

"Yes," Finnick replied. "That's eleven."

"Great. Continue on. Emmie and Allie, you two can return to the hovercraft with the corpses" - everybody winced at Katniss' indifferent tone as she threw out the word - "and everyone else will continue on to the next floor. Don't forget your mission, people."

The only sound was Lizzie crying.

Katniss frowned. "Lizzie, you can return to the hovercraft, too," she said, her voice slightly softer.

I sat back against my pillows as everyone on the other end of the speakers did what they were told. I tried to think about it, but I was just imagining the next attack, who would get hurt next.

"Katniss?" said a soft voice, and I was shocked to find that it came from someone in the same room as me. Everybody looked to Prim, who was staring at her older sister with fear clear in her blue eyes. "Katniss, do they really have to go on?"

Katniss stared at her younger sister for a long moment. "They're going to rescue Peeta, Prim." She looked down. "And the others," she added as an afterthought.

"But what if more people... what if they get hurt too?" Prim pressed on.

Katniss ignored her sister, though I could see that Prim had planted a seed of hesitation in her mind. She was now avoiding all of our gazes. "Are you guys done yet?" she asked harshly over the speakers.

"Almost," Finnick replied and I could tell that even he was annoyed with Katniss.

After five more minutes of anger rising in Katniss' face, they announced that they were continuing on to the next floor.

I don't exactly remember what happened on this floor. I know that Finnick went first and that he encountered only one guard - who he easily knocked out - and that they then found several hospital wings. And I know that these hospital wings were inhabited. But I was too stunned by the death of one of my "best friends" and the fact that they were actually getting out of there, the majority of them unharmed, with Peeta, Annie and Johanna added to their group, that I couldn't pay much attention to what anyone was saying.

And so they boarded the hovercraft and started their journey back to the underground civilization of District 13.

**Yay! Peeta's coming, Peeta's coming, Peeta's coming! HAPPY DANCE! (feel free to join me)**

**Please review and tell me what you want Peeta to say when he comes.**

**I 3 you guys!**

**~writergal24**


	20. Chapter 20: The Fight

**Yes! I can update! I tried to last night and it didn't work. Please read the A/Ns this chapter, VERY IMPORTANT!**

**1. I screwed up. When I was reading the list of names I was given last night, I noticed that the name Francie was there. I forgot to use Francie in the last few chapters. To whoever gave me the name, I'm soooo sorry!**

**2. I was also given the names Fiona and Alora and I will be using them soon!**

**3. I assume that some of you are also Harry Potter fans. This is good! I started a Harry Potter blog called The Way a Muggle Sees It. The URL is muggle pov . blogspot . com (without the spaces). I would love if you guys checked it out!**

**4. I love you guys. Thanks for the reviews.**

**5. It has now been over a year since I first started this story and you guys have made it an amazing year. So far, it looks like the end is nowhere in sight so we could be hear for another year.**

**6. I LOVE THIS CHAPTER! Hope you enjoy it just as much!**

We knew we had a few hours before the hovercraft arrived in District 13, but almost immediately after they took off, Katniss started sending people to go arrange for hospital rooms and food and anything else that the group might need when they got back. "We need at least five hospital rooms, guys," she reminded them.

I tried not to think about who the hospital rooms were for.

Eventually, there was only a couple more people were left in the room. Katniss turned and stared at me. "Can you all leave? I need a few minutes alone with Lana."

Prim and Rory, after giving Katniss another hug, walked out of the room and Isis skipped off talking about going to go find her brother.

"What's up?" I asked Katniss as she sat down on the chair next to my bed again, still staring at me.

"What's up?" Katniss repeated, and suddenly there was fury in her voice again. "What's up? Well, I don't know. Two people from our side got killed! That was not supposed to happen. And the strangest part is that _your _friend, the one that I've been assured many times is _not_ a Capitol spy _killed _the other! What am I supposed to make of that?"

I frowned. "What are you saying, Katniss?"

"I'm saying that maybe we should have never trusted you to begin with. And maybe I shouldn't trust you right now."

"You think I'm a spy?" I demanded.

Katniss nodded furiously and stood up. "Yeah, actually, I do. Why the hell else would your friend attack Lilliya?" she yelled.

"I don't know, maybe she panicked?" I replied, trying to contain my irritation.

"You don't kill someone when you panic!" Katniss screamed. She punched the chair and it fell the ground with a loud _Clang!_

"Well, before you stick me in the dungeons, why don't you consider this? I don't even remember her. I have no recollection of ever seeing her in my life before this week!" I said, anger rising in me too. "I don't remember ANYTHING, Katniss, don't you remember? Maybe I was a spy, but even if I was, I DON'T REMEMBER!"

Katniss didn't respond. She just stared at me, her eyes a stormy gray again.

"You don't know what it's like," I told her. "You walk around here like you're all _special_ because you were in the Hunger Games and you make it seem like your life is so much worse than anyone else's. Finnick was in the Hunger Games too! And Beetee! Do you ever think about that? Do you ever think about what it's like for everybody else, to have to leave their families and come here? Some of them don't even have families because they were killed by the Capitol!

"I'm not saying that the Hunger Games weren't hard for you, but have you ever considered what it was like for me?" My voice dropped to almost a whisper. "I don't know anything because I can't remember. I don't even know what kind of person I am! For all I know, I could be a complete bitch. But I don't remember it, so, beats me! I don't remember what my mom looks like. I don't know what my dad's name is. And that girl on that hovercraft, the one who just committed murder and died, the one who is supposed to be my best friend? I DON'T KNOW HER!"

Katniss was quiet for a long moment. "I _do_ think about what it's like for other people," she whispered finally. "Why do you think I'm doing this?"

"I just think you should _act_ like you care. Did you know that Emmie's sister died in the Hunger Games? Did you know Alena Marie's husband is an Avox? Did you know Elizabeth is deaf in her left ear because of an explosion? Did you know Ozuma's mom died giving birth to him because there weren't any doctors available? I bet you didn't know any of that."

Katniss glared at me. "_I've _been planning a mission. _I've _been fighting a war. _I've been trying to save all of us!_"

I closed my eyes and bit my lip. "I really hate to say this," I said, opening my eyes, "But if you don't listen to what people want and what people need, you're not going to be any different than Coin or Snow."

Katniss' face contorted with fury. She walked over to me and in one fluid movement, slapped my cheek. Hard. The stinging practically blinded me so I was only sure she had left when I heard the door slamming behind her.

* * *

An hour later, I heard a knock at the door. "Come in," I called.

A little blonde head appeared in the doorway. Prim. "I heard about your fight with Katniss," she said softly. "I wanted to see how you were doing."

I sat up. I'd been lying down, trying to sleep, but I'd had no luck. I was still full of worry and anger. "I'm doing fine. Thanks for coming to check on me," I said, trying to smile. "Are the others back yet?"

"They're about ten minutes away."

"Don't you want to go see them?" I asked her.

She walked farther into the room, closing the door behind her. "I do, but… I'm kind of scared. I don't mind seeing injured people – I want to be a doctor. But it bothers me seeing injured people that I _know_. Especially when it's not only physically that there injured."

I nodded. "Hey, I don't like seeing injured people at all, so."

She laughed. Prim's laugh was like high-pitched bells ringing. It was kind of funny because she was so innocent and her laugh made her sound like a little girl, but she had been through so much and she was so smart that she acted like she was older. Katniss was yet to notice this. Katniss still treated her like she was five. But I didn't really want to think about Katniss at the moment.

Yet, of course, Prim brought her up. "You know Katniss doesn't really hate you, right? She's just really stressed out."

I shrugged.

"I have a feeling she'll get better now, you know, now that Peeta's back."

"Do you really think Peeta will make her feel better?" I asked.

Prim's smile wavered. "I don't know. It will definitely make Peeta feel better, to be with her. I'm not sure how Katniss will react. Last time she was with him she was still pretending." Prim made air quotes around the word "pretending."

"That she loved him?" I asked.

Prim nodded. "She really does love him though. Or, at least, I think she does."

"But will she ever admit it?"

"I hope so," Prim said. She pulled the chair that was on the ground up and sat down on it. "I think it would be good for her."

We were both silent for a few moments. I studied the floor tiling in attempt to avoid her light blue eyes.

"I don't remember my dad, you know," she told me.

"Huh?" I said, startled by the sudden topic change.

"He died when I was too young to remember him. I've seen pictures and I think I might have one memory of him throwing me up in the air and catching me, but I don't remember him the way Katniss and my mom do. It's hard not remembering. I feel left out sometimes. Why should they have memories of my dad when I don't?" Prim trailed off, staring out of the window.

I sighed. "I… I don't even have anyone to ask about my parents. I mean, I suppose I could ask Lizzie and… I could ask Lizzie."

Prim studied my face cautiously. "Are you sad about Roselle?" she asked me.

"I feel like I should be sad," I told her honestly, "But I'm not. I don't remember her, other that the few times that I talked to her this week. I don't feel like I have anything to be sad about."

She nodded thoughtfully. I had the feeling that, though she couldn't exactly relate to this experience, she knew exactly what I was talking about. After a few more minutes, she said, "You know, I should probably go and see everybody. Would you like to come with me?"

I hesitated. "I don't know…"

"Katniss won't yell at you in front of me, I promise," she said, shaking her head. "She refuses to yell in front of me."

I smiled once again and stood up. We started to walk out of the room. I was almost to the door when I said softly, "Prim?"

She turned around to look at me.

"Thanks," I told her.

Prim smiled and came over and gave me a hug.

**Eep, I love this chapter. I wasn't sure if I was making Katniss a little OOC, but then I thought about all of the things she's going through right now. Everybody thinks she's dead, yet she has to save the world from Snow, and now Coin. She misses Peeta. Two girls just got killed because of the mission she plans. Everybody is counting on her to be the Mockingjay. So this was her "freak-out chapter." I think everyone needs one of these. Don't worry, Lana's is coming ;)**

**And Prim was in this chapter. Maybe like 10 chapters back, someone asked me to include Prim more. It's a little late, but here she is.**

**Thank you guys for all the reviews, favorites, and alerts!**

**~writergal24**


	21. Chapter 21: Reunions

**Hi. Don't glare at me. It hasn't been THAT long. I mean, it's been a few weeks. But the chapter from the last time I updated is still in my Doc Mangager! Plus, I've been busy. You know, school. Homework. Life. Harry Potter.**

**Which reminds me, if you are a Harry Potter fan, you'd be much better off reading my HP stories at the moment. I'm kinda obsessed. You'll have a much better chance of an update.**

**SOO I realized that November is NaNoWriMo. (Yeah, that thing again.) I don't know if I'm doing it yet. I have an plot idea, but it's kinda complicated and yeah, you don't care. Point is, I might not be updating in November, but I plan to update at least one more time before Halloween.**

**Recap: There was a secret mission to save the captured people in the Capitol. It was successful... until Rachel killed Lillya and was then killed herself :/ Katniss exploded at Lana. Prim was nice. (there's a shock.) Now Prim and Lana are going to go find everyone.**

**I don't think I have anything else to say, except that you guys are AMAZING. Seriously. You have no idea how much I appreciate your reivews. They make my day. And I don't own Hunger Games. Hope you enjoy!**

**(Peeta!)**

I realized in the hallway that this was the first time that I'd been outside of my room since I'd shot the commercial with President Coin. It was kind of a scary, yet exhilarating, thought. I was no longer confined in the little white box.

We walked through hallways silently. Prim checked every hallway before we went down it because we didn't really even want to think about how Coin would react if she found out I was out of my hospital room. And she was probably already going to be mad enough considering we'd – pretty much – succeeded in a mission right under her nose.

We were already in the hospital wing of the building, so we checked the clipboard on each door. So far, they'd all been empty or had unfamiliar names on them. "Look. There's Annie's room!" Prim said, pointing at a door on our right, outside of which sat a clipboard with the name "Annie Cresta" on it. She peeked in through the window and giggled hysterically. "Maybe we shouldn't go in. Finnick's in there."

"Do you know the story between them?" I asked, wanting so badly to look in, but Prim had already continued down the hallway.

Prim nodded. "Finnick told me the other day. Finnick was the in the Games. He got back, they fell in love, and a few years later she got reaped. And while she was there… she kind of went crazy. But he still loves her anyway. He hasn't seen her since he got reaped for the Quarter Quell."

"Wow," I said quietly.

A few more silent hallways were passed, and then we started to hear voices talking. Prim and I exchanged a glance, but when we heard Alena Marie's voice, we knew that we were headed in the right direction.

Everyone from the mission – minus Lilliya and Roselle – and everyone from the hospital room – minus Katniss and Finnick – were standing in a waiting-room-like room, talking to each other about what had happened.

Lizzie was slumped in one of the chairs, still sobbing. When she saw me, she stood up and threw her arms around me. "Oh, Lana! She's gone!"

It was kind of awkward. This girl that I barely even knew was leaning on me as she cried her eyes out. I tried to comfort her, but I didn't know her, I didn't know our other "best friend." I didn't know what was going on!

Finally, she fell back into her sit and blabbered to me for a little while about Rachel. When she'd said everything she could think of, she just continued to cry.

I slunk away to find someone else to talk to. "Emmie!" I said, catching sight of her. "Hey! How are you doing?"

Emmie looked at me and smiled sadly. "I could be much worse. My leg's all bandaged, so I'll be okay."

"Was it really bad?" I asked her softly.

"It was scary. You should have seen the look on Roselle's face… it was like she enjoyed shooting Lilliya." Emmie shuddered, smiled at me sadly once more, and turned back to Allie.

I winced. Who was this girl that was supposedly my best friend? She'd found _pleasure_ in shooting an innocent girl? Maybe Katniss was right to have suspected me. Maybe I was a spy. Maybe I'd just forgotten what I was supposed to be doing…

"How hard was she?" said a voice by my right ear. I turned to see Haymitch standing there, swigging some more beer.

"Who?" I asked.

"Katniss."

"Oh… yeah, it was pretty bad. What's going on with Coin?" I asked, changing the topic quickly. "Has she found out yet?"

Haymitch shook her head. "Obviously the doctors have realized that people from the Capitol have just showed up here, but it seems that nobody wants to be the one to tell the President about our secret mission," he slurred. I found it almost funny how he had completely coherent thoughts while he was drunk.

"Well that's… good?"

Haymitch shrugged.

Prim walked up to me. "Do you want to stay with everyone else? I'm going to go try to find Peeta's room, I guess," Prim told me.

"No!" The thought of being without her scared me actually. It was like she calmed me down. "I'll come with you."

"Okay," Prim said.

I said goodbye to Haymitch and we set off.

We walked through a few more hallways before she finally pointed at the door. She peeked through the window and frowned. "Katniss isn't in there, is she?" I asked.

"Nope. But I think he's sleeping."

"Well… we won't find unless we go in…"

Prim pushed open the door softly, and peered into the room.

Immediately, there was a response of, "Who's there?"

Prim walked into the room. "Peeta, it's me, Prim," she said delicately. I didn't understand how this girl could be so nice. "And Lana's with me."

"Lana?" Peeta repeated.

"The Jabberjay."

Peeta was silent for a moment. Then he said, "Oh," but his voice was cold, like he'd already found a reason to hate me, even though we hadn't met yet.

I stood hesitantly in the doorway. I couldn't see Peeta's face because Prim was standing in front of me. I was starting to regret coming with her to see him. Maybe staying behind with Lizzie sobbing about my best friend that I didn't remember would have been better.

"She didn't mean it, Peeta. How are you feeling?"

Peeta didn't protest, but I wasn't sure if he'd accepted her answer. "Okay… it's lucky you guys got me out when you did. I think they were planning something big. But there's really nothing wrong with me. How are you?"

I couldn't see Prim's face, but I imagined the smile that lit up her face and the room. "I'm doing okay. Has Katniss come to visit you yet?"

Peeta said nothing.

Prim too was silent for a moment, but then she turned around and looked at me. "Why don't you come say hi, Lana?"

_Because Peeta might just hate my guts?_

But I found myself walking forward into the dim lighting of the room, and as I walked forward, I caught sight of the blonde boy who lay on the bed, the boy literally of my dreams, the boy who Katniss was quite possibly in love with.

He was saying "Hi" when his bright blue eyes met my eyes.

And then everything went black.

_The Boy with the Bread…_

**I would like to defend Lana. She's being kind of... insensitive towards Lizzie, isn't she? Well, imagine. This girl she doesn't know is depending on her for support while she mourns. I don't know, sounds awkward to me... And as for Rachel... we'll find out more about her later, I promise.**

**CLIFFIE! Five points to whoever can tell me what is particularly interesting about the last couple lines. Other than the fact that my Peeta is in them and that Lana fainted...**

**I know I've forgotten something but... oh well.**

**Please review! I will love you forever! ANDD I have 199 reviews right this second. The first person to review will be MY 200th REVIEWER! If you do that, you get a virtual FEAST. Any food that you want shall be served and I will right an 500 word description of it for you :) WHO WILL WIN THE FEAST? Game on lol**

**Ridiculously long A/Ns... sorry.**

**~writergal24**


	22. Chapter 22

**SURPRISE! (Yeah, I'm just as shocked as you are.) Going to try (and fail) to make this A/N short...**

**1. If I promised you a (virtual) feast... it's coming. I'm sorry. I forgot and then I haven't had time to work on them. And writing 500 words about food turns out to be a lot harder than it looks.**

**2. I don't own the Hunger Games because I don't.**

**3. Recap: Mission to the Capital to rescue Peeta & others was a success, except that Rachel shot Lilliya and was then shot herself. Why? Who knows? (oh, yeah, me) Now they are in Peeta's room and Lana just fainted. Why? Read to find out.**

**4. This is a wimpy update. But it's an update.**

**5. I love you guys. A lot. So much. Thanks so much for sticking with me despite the months between updates. Thanks for the reviews, thanks for the favorites, and thanks for the alerts.**

_He was saying "Hi" when his bright blue eyes met my eyes._

_And then everything went black._

_The Boy with the Bread…_

When I woke up, I heard a faint, steady beeping. It reminded me of when I was seven and I got pneumonia and…

WHAT?

Memories flew through my head: birthdays, learning to ride a bike, school, parties, friends, family, holidays, books, fights, hugs, make-ups, dreams, goals, meetings, boyfriends, teachers, camp, weddings, funerals, shows, sick days, snow days, memories…

My eyes popped open. I was sitting on an uncomfortable plastic chair in a hospital room. Four girls and a man hovered over me and a boy lay on the bed in the room, straining to get a look at me over the heads of the others.

"Lizzie!" I gasped.

The girl I'd addressed sniffled and said, "Lana, are you okay?"

I felt a grin stretch across my face and I knew that I must have looked completely insane, but it didn't matter.

BECAUSE I REMEMBERED THEM!

"You're Prim!" I exclaimed, pointing at the young blonde girl. Then I turned to the drunken man. "You're Haymitch!" I looked at the brown-haired girl with angry silver eyes. "And you're Katniss! And you're pissed at me."

They were all still staring at me, wondering why I was saying completely obvious things.

I turned to the boy behind them. "And that's Peeta." My stomach twisted in swoops. I was in the same room as the boy that I was madly in love with. I was in love with him.

Shoot. What had I been thinking telling Katniss to go after him? Why had losing my memory made me completely stupid?

Blank stares.

Then I noticed that there was still one more girl in the room. She had lavender hair that twirled like she'd just pulled it out of a bun. "I don't know who you are," I said, pointing at her, which may have been rude, but it was effective.

The girl frowned at me. "I'm Fiona. The nurse."

"Oh, well, I'm fine," I told her. "You can go."

She frowned at me once more, checked a few things on Peeta's monitor (so maybe she hadn't been there for me…), and then ducked out of the room, which was good because, if she worked for Coin, I didn't want her hearing anything that I said from then on.

"I remember!" I exclaimed after she'd left, the grin widening, so that it was literally stretching from ear to ear.

Lizzie gasped. "You remember? Everything? Like, our old lives?" I nodded eagerly at her questions. "You remember me? And… Rachel?"

That hit me like a thousand punches, punches that punched out the excitement of remembering everything. One of my best friends was dead. And she wasn't evil, I knew that now. Maybe she could be a little manipulative, and maybe we fought a lot, but she wasn't evil.

So why had she shot Lilliya?

I figured that Katniss was five seconds from asking me the same questions.

I was starting to get a horrible headache.

"Do you remember how you lost your memory?" Haymitch slurred at me.

Oh, good old Haymitch.

I nodded slowly. "The night I was put in jail, Coin came down and took me from my cell. She took me to a small room and then she stuck a needle in my arm that made me forget everything," I told them.

"I knew it was Coin," Katniss growled.

"Katniss," Prim whispered, laying an arm on her sister's arm, which seemed to calm her down a bit.

I turned to Katniss. "Look, I know you're not going to believe me, but I remember now. Rachel _never_ would have done something like that. This must have been a horrible mistake."

"It was no mistake," she replied darkly. "I've talked to the others and they all agree."

"Well, I don't know why it happened, but I can promise you that we are not spies and we are not from the Capital and we never meant for anything bad to happen. We don't even understand how we got here," I explained. I looked at Lizzie to make sure that she agreed with everything I said, and she just nodded sadly at me.

I took in her bloodshot eyes, her blotchy face, the tear streaks down her face and I realized just how hard Lizzie was taking Rachel's death. I felt a wave of guilt for having pushed her off earlier when she'd been looking for comfort.

But I had to deal with Katniss for the moment.

Katniss stared at me for a long moment, then glanced at Peeta, and stormed out of the room.

"Someone's in a good mood," Haymitch remarked, pulling his bottle out and taking a big swig, before he too left the room.

And then it was just the four of us: Lizzie, Prim, Peeta, and I. I stood up and wrapped my arms around Lizzie and we were all silent for a long time.

Even though I had gotten my memories back, I was still just as confused as ever.

**So the interesting thing at the end of the last chapter was that she remembered that Peeta was called the Boy with the Bread BECAUSE SHE GOT HER MEMORY BACK. YAY!**

**One more thing: the Hunger Games movie is coming out in three months. I plan to get super excited and update frequently. Sounds like a good plan, right? Hopefully I'll update at least twice before then. Speaking of the movie, what do you think of the song they released - "Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift ft. the Civil Wars. I've heard mixed reactions and I want to know yours.**

**Thanks for reading!  
~writergal24**


	23. Chapter 23: Life with Memories

**This should be a quick A/N because I have homework and can't spend forever writing it. So...**

**Disclaimer: I still am not Suzanne Collins, I don't make any money off of this, and I only write it because it's fun.**

It got awkward after the others left. Honestly, Peeta intimidated me. I mean, this was the boy that I was in love with, wasn't it? What was I supposed to say to him? He didn't know me, and I wasn't sure he even liked me, so how did I start a conversation?

I let Prim and Peeta control the conversation for a little while (Lizzie was sitting in the corner sniffling), and then I announced that I was going to go back and see what everyone else was up to.

Lizzie offered to come with me. Prim nodded. Peeta made no sign of having heard me say anything.

_Fine. You want to give me the silent treatment? Go ahead. But I was part of the reason you were found, mister. By the way… will you marry me?_

Yeah, it was definitely better if I just kept my mouth shut around Peeta.

Lizzie and I walked through the hallway, and she spent the entire time asking me if I remembered things that had happened in the past. Luckily, she avoided bringing up Rachel too much. We were both still in shock; we weren't ready to reminisce.

When we got to the waiting room, we announced that I'd gotten my memory back, and I was instantly bombarded with smiles and comments of "Congratulations!"

We also found out that Coin was still gloriously oblivious to what had happened that morning, though it had shifted all of our worlds beyond the point of return.

Finnick came out halfway through our conversation, closely followed by Annie Cresta. Her wide, innocent eyes took us all in with a feeling of calmness, and I wondered how this was the girl that had been called insane. She was pretty, with long brown hair swirling down her back.

She looked a bit off balance though, and Finnick held her tightly as they sat down on the chairs lining the hallway. Her hand remained tightly in his as he introduced all of us to her.

When I went up to them to say hello, Annie's eyes flashed for a moment. A horrified expression crossed over her face as she looked at me. Her eyes snapped shut and she placed her hands over her ears. Finnick quickly turned her head towards him and whispered something to her, and she calmed down. A concealing smile stretched over her face as she looked back up at me.

"I'm sorry. I suppose you just… reminded me of someone," she said slowly.

I smiled back at her. I lingered with the group for a few minutes. The room was very tense. Everyone was brimming with anticipation, waiting for word of Coin's reaction. A few people were even discussing how they could escape if Coin suddenly went on a murderous rampage.

Finally, I retreated to my room, exhausted. I hadn't done that much walking in months, and I needed sleep.

The door creaked just as I was settling into bed after changing.

"It's me," Katniss said, though I could tell she wasn't happy to be there with me.

"What's up? Did Coin find out yet?" I asked, sitting up faster than you could say "Peeta Mellark."

Katniss smile was twisted. "Oh, yes, she knows. And she's _pissed_. But she hasn't attacked or punished anyone yet, so I suppose that's good news."

I looked at the girl before me for a long moment, trying to connect this girl who seemed perpetually annoyed at me with the one that I'd read about and obsessed over for the past couple years. It was a very hard thing to do. But I did know one thing: neither Katniss did something without having a reason. "Why are you here?" I questioned.

"I have something that you need to see."

I stared at her expectantly.

"You need to come with me," she said.

I grimaced. "Is this important? I'm really tired."

"And you think I'm not?" she shot back at me, and I had to notice the bags under her eyes, which were verging on bloodshot.

"Is it important?" I repeated anyways.

"Yes," Katniss said finally.

"Great, let's go."

Katniss rolled her eyes at me as I pulled on a jacket from the small closet I had access to and followed her out into the hallway.

"We were looking in all of the hospital rooms to see where there would be room for more patients if necessary. And we found… well, you'll see when we get there," she trailed off, picking up her pace.

I was completely confused. What could Katniss possibly need to show _me_? But I followed her anyway because, honestly, I was extremely curious.

She stopped suddenly outside of a door and held up a hand at me. "You need to be calm, okay?"

"Sure."

"Seriously. Take some deep breaths. Don't scream."

Now I was scared.

Katniss opened the door and I was shocked to find that it was just a regular old hospital room, with the ugly garbage pails and the plastic white curtains. There was a bed with plan white sheets, and a girl in a hospital gown lying on the bed.

The peculiar part was that she was handcuffed to the bed and there was a piece of tape covering her mouth. Still, when she saw me walk in the room, her eyes lit up.

Because my best friend was sitting on the bed.

Rachel.

**MAJOR cliffhanger. I know, I'm mean.**

**I have midterms next week. Update probably isn't going to happen. But feel free to beg... **

**Any theories? Let me know.**

**Can't think of anything else I need to tell you so... bye.**

**~writergal24**


	24. Chapter 24: She's Alive

**Try not to fall out of your chair... There's an update! But, technically, it's only been 53 days... Okay, that's not good, but it's not as bad as some of my other breaks. And this chapter SHOULD have been up last week but I kind of forgot I wrote it...**

**Recap: Coin took Lana's memories away. Lana got them back when she saw Peeta. Katniss is annoying. So is President Coin. Prim isn't though. Rachel (Lana's friend) went all crazy on the mission to rescue Peeta and killed another girl. Then she was shot. But at the end of last chapter, Rachel was sitting on a hospital bed. Confused? Me too...**

**This chapter is dedicated to my grandmother and my little sister, both of which recently read the Hunger Games, proving just how beautiful books are. In case you were wondering, my grandmother thought it was kind of weird, but wants to read Catching Fire. My sister LOVED it and is in the middle of Mockingjay.**

_Because my best friend was sitting on the bed._

_Rachel._

So I did the completely logical thing.

I burst into tears.

"SHH!" Katniss hissed at me. "We can't let anybody know that we're in here!"

I took a bunch of deep breaths, trying to calm myself down.

Then I half-crawled over to the bed and fell on top of her, shaking the entire bed. Garbled words and sentences attempted to cross the tape around her mouth and I could only imagine what she must have been saying, what she must have been thinking.

"You're alive," I said, standing up unsteadily.

She gave me a look that clearly said _What-crazy-fudged-up-cereal-have-you-been-eating?_

"She'll explain later," Katniss announced from behind me.

"What?" I exclaimed.

Rachel's eyes said the same thing. (Or the same thing in a more, erm, colorful manner.)

"We have to get out of here now."

"WHY?"

"Because one of Rachel's nurses is on our side, but the others aren't," she said matter-of-factly. "They could walk in here at any moment and see us. That will just give Coin another reason to be pissed at us."

I stared at her. I'd thought that Rachel was dead. And now she just wanted me to walk away from her?

I looked down at Rachel. Her hair was limp, her eyes were tired, she looked so unhealthy compared to the last time I'd seen her. And yet she pointed her finger at the door with such determination that I left, even though I'd been prepared to fight Katniss.

I gave her one more look as I left the room.

Her eyes were sad, yes. But it was okay, because she was alive.

And for now, that was all that mattered.

* * *

Lizzie practically leaped into my arms when I told her about Rachel. And she was bawling even harder than I'd been when I'd seen our friend.

"She's alive?" she asked softly.

"Yes," I told her, a huge smile spreading across my face.

The rest of the room seemed a little more skeptical.

"No. That can't be true," Emmie said.

"Yeah, we _saw_ her," Allie said.

"She was definitely dead," Elizabeth asserted.

They all looked to Katniss.

"I haven't really talked to her yet. The nurse that's been helping me, she didn't give me much information," Katniss announced. "But it's risky to be there. It's not like Lana – she could leave her room whenever she wanted. They're keeping a close eye on Rachel. We have to find a time to get over there when we know that nobody else will be there."

"How?" Haymitch demanded.

Katniss smirked. "Actually, I was hoping you'd have a plan."

"You came to the right man, sweetheart."

* * *

Finally, after the long, long day – from finding out that my best friend was dead, then discovering that she was actually alive, to meeting the boy of my dreams, to witnessing a crime/rescue mission – I settled back into my bed.

Katniss didn't walk into my room as I was trying to go to sleep like last time (which was good because I zonked out the second I lay down), though she had promised that she would be in my room pretty early the next morning.

But when I woke up the next morning, there was somebody sitting beside my bed.

And it wasn't Katniss.

It was President Coin.

I cleared my throat and sat up quickly, staring at the woman. Her hair was impeccably perfect and straight, but her eyes looked tired. I could only imagine how stressed she must have been because of everything that was going on.

"Hello."

She nodded at me.

"Long time no see," I commented with a small laugh.

President Coin didn't look amused at all.

"Well, it's true. I mean, I don't think I've seen you in weeks. And it's been a very long couple of weeks. I can't even remember the last time I saw you," I rambled. "I think it may have been the day of the commercial. No, maybe not. I'm not sure. But, really, you haven't been visiting…"

Coin just sat there, clearing only half-listening to me as I'd chatted away about completely pointless stuff.

Because we both knew that she wasn't just there to check up on me. And we both knew that she wouldn't be leaving this room with us all buddy-buddy again.

Finally Coin's gray eyes focused in on me. "I hear you've met my friend Katniss."

My body tensed. "Yes," I told her. "Well, I suppose I've done more than met her."

Coin's eyes narrowed. "So I've heard… I heard you were very instrumental in that little stunt they pulled."

"Little stunt?" I repeated. "Don't you realize what we did? We saved innocent people, something you were apparently too unconcerned to do."

"You also killed two innocent people."

I wanted to scream at her about how I knew the truth, about how Rachel was alive. But I held my tongue because that would ruin all of the plans that we'd made the night before. So I simply nodded. "They knew what they were getting themselves into."

"And Peeta Mellark didn't?"

"Peeta Mellark didn't ask to be in the Hunger Games."

"He volunteered!" she said, her voice rising.

"The second time!"

Coin took a deep breath. "Look, I'm not here to argue with you. I'm here to offer you one last chance," she said. I opened my mouth to speak, but she cut me off. "Just listen. This is your last opportunity to come back over to our side. If you continue to help Katniss and her little group of rebels, you will be punished with the rest of them. I will succeed in becoming president of Panem and there is nothing that any of you children can do to stop that. So you can join the side that will win, or you can suffer the consequences. Consider it."

Coin rose and swiftly walked over the door. Before the left, she turned around and said, "Look, I'm only trying to help. Panem will be much better off with my government controlling it."

And then she was gone.

"Perhaps," I said to myself. "Perhaps you'd be better than Snow. But there are people that would be much better than you."

**Alright, so hopefully that made some sense. The next chapter should explain things better.**

**THE MOVIE IS SO CLOSE. GAH. I'm so excited.**

**Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me despite the long waits.**

**~writergal24**


	25. Chapter 25: In Peeta's Room Again

**Hello? Anyone still there? Well, Friday was the second anniversary of when I started this story, so I wanted to post something on Friday, but it's already been Sunday for 13 minutes now... Not the point. Okay, moving on. I'm really sorry about the lack of updates, but frankly, I'm a little lost on this story. I have more of a concrete plan than I did last update, but I think my large number of fillers is actually hurting my understanding of the story. Anyway... on to the chapter.**

**Recap: Lana and her friends were sucked into the beginning of Mockingjay after they left a Mockingjay release party. And they didn't even get to read it first! Then Coin thought they were spies for the Capitol, so she put them in jail, and then she wiped Lana's memory in order to use her as the Jabberjay because of a bet she made with Katniss about Katniss being the Mockingjay. Lana got her memory back two chapters ago, after seeing Peeta for the first time, because they had just completed a rescue mission (that Coin just found out about). Lana's friend Rachel killed another girl on the mission, and then was killed herself, but now she's alive again...?**

After Coin left, I too left my room to see what everyone else was up to. Somehow I ended up outside of Peeta's hospital room (no idea how that happened, really).

I peeked through the little window on the door to see if Katniss or Prim or Haymitch or anyone else was inside, but it was only Peeta. I would have left, but he saw me looking at him. He raised his eyebrows at me, and at that point, I had no choice but to go in.

"Hey," I said as I closed the door behind me.

"Hey," he replied.

"Have you… seen anyone this morning?" I asked awkwardly. I couldn't figure out where I should go, so I just kind of stood in front of his bed.

The hospital room seemed to be five times bigger than it had been the day before when there had been multiple people in the room. But I knew it really wasn't that big. There was just Peeta's bed in the middle, some cabinets against one wall, a bathroom on the opposite wall, and a television next to the door. It was practically identical to my room.

Peeta shook his head. "It's still pretty early. Have you?"

"Only Coin," I grumbled.

Peeta didn't respond to that.

"Look, I don't know if you're mad at me, but I just want to be clear with you. If I had known what was really going on, I _never_ would have done those commercials. Coin wiped my memory and-"

"Lana, I know."

I looked at him for a minute. "You do?"

"Prim told me," he explained. He brushed his bangs out of his eyes. "After you left yesterday, she explained everything that has happened since the Quarter Quell."

"Everything?"

Peeta sighed. "I know about the books, and how you found Katniss, and the commercials, and Rachel…"

"Yeah, that's pretty much everything." I paused. "So are you not mad at me?"

"No. I guess I'm just mad at Coin now. You saw her this morning?"

I sat down in a chair against the wall and nodded. "She was in my room when I woke up this morning. It was a _really_ pleasant surprise. She was trying to convince me that we were wrong and that she was right for the country and other bullshit like that."

"Sounds like you had a fun morning," Peeta said.

"Yeah. What have you been up to?"

He shrugged. "Just laying here." He patted his bed.

"Have you, um, spoken to Katniss yet?"

Peeta's eyes dropped to the floor. "Yeah, she… she came in last night after she took you to Rachel's room. I probably should have been sleeping by that point, but she…" Peeta laughed. "She didn't really seem to care that I'm in the hospital."

I fiddled with my sleeve. "And how did that go?" I didn't know what I expected. Would she have taken my advice and opened up to him? Would she have yelled her lungs out like she'd done to me the day before?

"Oh, it was… typical Katniss."

Was that… relief I felt? "Isn't it always…" I murmured.

"She's not bad," Peeta said quickly. "She just has a hard time expressing how she feels. And she can be a little bit ignorant of how others feel."

"I'm sorry," I said.

Peeta shook his head. "I'm not. She can be wonderful."

"Is that enough?" I said. Then I grimaced. "I didn't mean it like that, Peeta…"

He frowned. "I know what you mean. But, yes, it is. I've been in love with her for my entire life. She's amazing. She's just had a rough life."

"That's definitely true."

We sat in silence for a moment.

"I should probably go find her," I said finally. "I should figure out what she thinks our next step should be."

"What do you think it should be?" he asked.

"Well, I think our first step is figuring out what we are going to replace the government with," I told him.

His eyebrows crunched together. "Don't you think we need to get rid of Snow and Coin first?"

"No," I said, shaking my head. "We need to figure out what comes after the war before we move forward. We don't want to end up replacing this mess with another, bigger mess. We need to find something that everyone in Panem can be happy with. And we need to expose all of the problems that we are facing right now. The people need to understand where we are coming from." I stood up and walked towards the door.

"I guess you're right. But good luck convincing Katniss on that one."

I laughed as I left the room, giving him one last smile.

Before I could convince Katniss of anything, though, I'd have to find her. Seeing as I'd left my hospital room less than ten times, it was definitely going to be a challenge…

**I really hope I can update soon. I'll try to get another chapter up before I start school, but I make no promises.**

**Thanks to everyone who is still reading.**

**~writergal24**


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